Different Directions
by Daylight
Summary: Different choices lead people in different directions. An alternate universe is created when an intruder enters the Power Chamber.
1. Intruder

Disclaimer: Saban sold the rangers, but not to me. I am obviously making no money off this or I might actually get round to writing more often. I have read many fanfics over the years so I may have subconsciously taken the wonderful ideas of some of the other authors out there (such as the Charlotte Oliver who has been claimed by Dana) So if you feel something belongs to you, feel free to tell me and I will give you credit. Everything else, for what it's worth, must belong to me.

Dedication: This whole series is now dedicated to Miche who has for several years been sending me emails pushing me to keep writing. Thanks so much Miche. Your emails mean everything to me.

Author's Note: I've revised my old chapters a few times since I first wrote them, but only made minor changes so you don't need to reread them unless of course you really want to.

**Intruder**

**Different Directions 1**

**By Daylight**

The stars could not be seen that night due to a thick cover of clouds, but above the clouds, a ship sped through the quiet darkness of space as fast as its over-tasked engines would allow. It must have once been an amazing sight to see, but now the ship's glistening metal hull was battered and scarred. The colorful outside paint was burnt away and covered in scorch marks; evidence of both old and recent battles, and a jagged hole marred the port side where the inner atmosphere had already been dispersed into space.

Inside the ship, a young man sat gazing out as the stars streamed past the view port. At first glance he appeared to be frozen still, but when you looked more closely you could see his body was shaking as much as his ship. His vacant eyes never left the view port, but it was evident that he was not seeing a single star.

Back on Earth inside the Power Chamber that stood atop the deserted mountains of Angel Grove, Billy was on his back working underneath the communication console. He had decided to use what he had learned on Aquitar to improve the Power Chamber's communication system. He was tiered of not being able to contact the constantly disappearing rangers especially considering what had recently happened to Tommy when Prince Gasket had gotten a hold of him. Billy wanted to be able to contact the rangers whether they were on another planet or in a different dimension.

Alpha 5 stood patiently by the console ready to help Billy if needed. Billy's tinkering was the only sound besides the buzzing of the other consoles inside the Power Chamber. Zordon was off meditating leaving his energy tube empty.

"Alpha?" asked Billy, his muffled voice coming through the console. "Could you pass me the scanner?"

"Of course, Billy."

Alpha 5 plucked a hand-held scanner off the top of the console and placed it in Billy's uplifted hand.

"Thanks."

"Billy..." started Alpha trying to subtly approach a well-worn subject, "Would you like to go down to the Youth Center and join the rangers? The upgrades can wait till tomorrow."

"That's true," replied Billy knowing what Alpha wanted him to do, "but we have no idea when the Machine Empire might attack next and these upgrades could be imperative in an emergency. I would like to have them done so I don't have to worry about..."

An alarm from one of the consoles cut him off. Billy scrambled out from under the communication console as Alpha went to check it out.

"Ai-yi-yi," cried Alpha as he looked at the console. "It's the intruder alarm. Someone has just entered the Power Chamber."

Billy joined Alpha at the console. He frowned as he pushed a series of buttons. "There must be an error in the system. Only a power ranger can enter here uninvited. Anyway, even if Gasket or even Rita and Zedd could get in, they wouldn't come quietly on their own."

The sound of one of the automatic doors opening followed by the echoing footsteps of someone entering the chamber proved him wrong. Alpha and Billy quickly turned to see the intruder standing behind them.

It was a young man, about the same age as Billy. He appeared to be wearing some type of uniform, gray pants and a gray jacket with a red shirt beneath. The clothes had been burnt and torn in several places. The intruder's unusual blond and brown streaked hair hung as a greasy mess on his shoulders. A number of cuts and bruises covered his face. His right arm hung limply by his side and he limped as he walked towards them.

"Identify yourself," demanded Billy.

"Where's Zordon?" the intruder coldly replied.

"What do you want with him?" Billy stepped forward quickly placing himself between the stranger and Zordon's energy tube. He quietly indicated behind his back for Alpha to call the rangers. Luckily, the intruder was too intent on getting to Zordon to pay much attention to what the robot was doing.

"That's none of your business."

The disturbance interrupting his meditation, Zordon's face returned to the energy tube. He took a quick look at the situation and noticed the intruder.

"What is going on here?"

Startled, both Billy and the stranger looked up.

"There you are Zordon." The intruder quickly sidestepped around the surprised Billy and got between him and Zordon.

"Andros!" exclaimed Zordon as the face became clear.

"Where were you?" the newly named intruder questioned angrily, stepping closer and closer.

Six streaks of coloured light shimmered into existence indicating the entrance of the rangers. After quickly assessing the situation, Tommy placed himself between Andros and Zordon while the other rangers surrounded the intruder on all sides.

"Back off!" Tommy shouted stepping forward to bring himself in closer to the strange young man. "I don't know what you want, but we won't allow you to harm Zordon."

Andros stood his ground but otherwise ignored the rangers and continued to shout at Zordon. "You said you would protect us. You said you would be there when we needed you, but when we asked for your help, you refused. You said that you and your rangers were needed here."

"The rangers of Earth were needed to protect their own planet from the Machine Empire."

"The Machine Empire? KO-35 was being attacked by Dark Specter himself, the monarch of all evil as well as most of his army!"

The rangers were shocked by Andros' appearance and even more by his attitude towards Zordon, but most of all they were confused. A glance passed between Tommy and Jason. They would do anything to protect Zordon, but they weren't sure how much of a threat Andros was. All the rangers were prepared to stop Andros if he tried anything, but they weren't planning to attack the injured intruder.

Meanwhile Billy had managed to obtain a hypodermic needle from the first aid kit and was quietly approaching Andros from behind.

"Andros calm down." Zordon tried to pacify the disturbed ranger. "What happened?"

Andros blinked. He looked around the room as if he was only just realizing where he was. He swayed and put his hands to his head as he began to shake once again.

"We abandoned KO-35," he said. "We couldn't stop Dark Specter. We tried... So many people died. My team... It's my fault. I should have done something!"

Andros grew more hysterical as he spoke and his whole body was shaking.

"I was their leader! I should have saved them! It's all my fault..."

"Quick Billy," Zordon ordered.

Billy injected the sedative into the intruder's arm. Andros swayed again and fell. Tommy reached out to catch him and with Jason carefully carried him over to a medical bed.

Tanya watched with concern. "Who is he?"

Zordon sighed showing a sadness the rangers weren't used to seeing from him. "He is called Andros. He's the Red Astro Ranger from the planet KO-35."

"That explains how he was able to enter the Power Chamber," exclaimed Billy as he ran a scanner over Andros, checking his injuries.

Adam frowned. "But he's human."

"There are other planets in this universe which have human populations," Zordon explained.

"Humans evolved on more than one world?"

"That is unknown. KO-35, itself, is only a colony."

Jason moved away from Andros' silent form and joined the others in front of the energy tube. What Andros had said was bothering him. "Zordon, is what he said true? Has his whole planet been conquered by evil."

"It would seem so." Closing his eyes, Zordon bowed his head. "It has been months since anyone has had any communication with KO-35."

"But they did ask for our help?" Tanya questioned.

"There must have been something we could have done," insisted Kat.

Zordon shook his head. "Unfortunately there was not. At the time, you were still trapped as children."

"And the Aquitian Rangers were too busy helping us," observed Billy. He put away the scanner and began treating Andros' injuries. He sighed as he totaled up the damage. Andros' left ankle was sprained, he had three broken ribs, and his right arm was fractured. His body was also covered in bruises, burns and abrasions, but Billy doubted Andros had felt any of it. The former Blue Ranger had realized the moment the intruder had stepped in the door that he was in severe shock. Giving him some medication to stabilize him, Billy began the long process of cleaning and wrapping all the injuries. Thank goodness Andros was a ranger and would heal fairly quickly, at least physically.

"Aren't there any other ranger teams who could have helped," Rocky asked.

"There are only a few ranger teams and they are scattered across the universe. Most would have been busy protecting their own planets and few would have had means of making it to KO-35." For the second time that evening, Zordon sighed. "I do not believe anyone realized exactly how serious Dark Specter's attack on KO-35 was."

Gazing over Andros' prone form, Tommy realized that the Earth Rangers had always been lucky. The Aquitar rangers had been there for them when they weren't able to stop Lord Zedd and Rita. The Gold Ranger from Triforia, whose powers Jason currently held, had helped them with the Machine Empire. And no matter how many times the Earth rangers had come so close to losing everything, Tommy still could not imagine what it would be like to lose their home to evil. The Red Ranger couldn't help wondering whether KO-35 might have been saved if the Earth Rangers or the Aquitian Rangers had managed to come to their aid. But then again, Andros had said what had attacked KO-35 was even more powerful than the Machine Empire.

"Zordon."

"Yes, Tommy."

"Who exactly is Dark Specter?"

Zordon took a deep breath surveying the inquiring faces of his young charges, before he replied.

"The most evil entity in this universe."


	2. Stranger

**Stranger**

**Different Directions 2**

**By Daylight**

It was seldom very cold in Angel Grove, but there was a strange chill in the wind that morning. Walking quickly to keep warm, Katherine and Tanya headed off to Angel Grove High. Tanya shifted the strap of her backpack as she stared ahead. Her thoughts were mulling over the events of the previous evening. They were all very confused by what had happened and Zordon hadn't been very helpful in clarifying things.

"Have you called the Power Chamber this morning?"

Kat nodded. "Just before you arrived."

"How's Andros?"

"He hasn't woken up yet. But Billy says he'll be fine. He just needs time for his injuries to heal."

They spent a couple more minutes in silence as they began to walk across Angel Grove Park. There were other ways they could have gone to school, but they preferred the peacefulness of the park. Though the many evil minions that seemed to plague their world often disrupted its tranquility, it was still the most beautiful place in Angel Grove. They walked over the dew-drenched grass lost in their own thoughts.

"Kat?"

"Yes"

"Do you ever wonder what would happen if we weren't able to stop the Machine Empire from conquering Earth?"

"I try not to, but I think in my heart I've always believed that good will always triumph over evil."

"Yeah, but Andros' home…"

"I know."

**ooooo**

In the Power Chamber, Billy was back underneath the communication console. Alpha stood by watching the progress of the former blue ranger's work and occasionally giving him a hand. Zordon had disappeared from his energy tube again. They were never sure where he went, but Alpha knew he had a lot to think about. He only hoped that Zordon wasn't blaming himself for what had happened to KO-35.

"Billy?"

"I just have to reconnect a few more things," came Billy's tired voice from underneath the console. "I would have finished last night but I was busy taking care of our guest."

"That's alright Billy. You did a great job of caring for Andros."

Billy let out a frustrated sigh. "I just wish I knew what had happened."

"I'm afraid that's something only Andros can tell us."

"Well, he should wake up any moment now."

**ooooo**

Andros, in fact, was already awake. He struggled through his heavy exhaustion to blurrily blink at his surroundings. Not knowing where he was, an adrenaline surge of panic helped him quickly sit up, but he instantly regretted it. His head pounded and his chest was on fire. While the world seemed to spin around him, he stifled a moan and wrapped his left arm around his ribs. Billy and Alpha heard nothing over the noise of their conversation. Andros brought his hand up to his face. He still felt dizzy and his vision was blurred. He rubbed his eyes.

"Do you know anything about Andros and his planet? Zordon didn't tell us much."

Andros looked around trying to focus enough to find the source of the voice.

"Only what's in the Ranger Archives."

As Andros' eyesight cleared, he came upon the sight of Alpha and Billy working on the communications console. The robot's back was towards him and Billy was unable to see anything from his position.

"KO-35 is a lot like Earth, except it has a higher level of technology and fewer cities. I've heard it's quite beautiful."

Keeping his eyes on the two other occupants of the room, Andros turned so that his legs hung off the edge of the medical bed. He still wore the slightly torn pants of his Astro-Ranger uniform. His feet were bare except for the bandage on his left ankle. He could feel bandages holding his ribs together under his red undershirt. There were also bandages over his right arm, which hung in a sling. Andros felt sore all over.

"What about the rangers?"

Andros pushed himself off the bed. His sprained ankle collapsed under the sudden weight, but as Andros fell to the ground, he managed to catch himself with his uninjured arm.

"There are six: red, yellow, blue, pink, black and silver."

'No' breathed Andros and tried to struggle to his feet.

"Zordon said they were Astro Rangers?"

'No' Andros whispered again as he grabbed the edge of the medical bed and pulled himself up.

"Yes. Though they were stationed at KO-35, the rangers came from different planets and have been known to come to the aid of people all over the universe."

Andros slowly started to back away from the two speakers.

"But I believe that both Andros and the Silver Ranger came from KO-35."

"NO!" Andros quickly turned around and ran out of the Power Chamber.

"What?" Billy frantically tried to extract himself from the tangle of wires.

"Ai-yi-yi!" Alpha turned around just in time to see Andros run out the door. "He must have woken up while we were talking."

"Where he'd go?"

"He ran out the west exit."

Scrambling to his feet, Billy ran out of the Power Chamber and through the corridors. He found the double doors to the outside open and quickly passed through them. His eyes gazed across the rocky terrain looking for any sign of Red Astro Ranger.

"Andros!" He climbed to the top of a small hill for a better view, but he still couldn't see anything. "Andros!"

Cursing, he decided to go back. Billy knew it was pointless to rush off when Andros could have escaped in any direction. Worried and frustrated, he returned to the Power Chamber

**ooooo**

Along the corridors of Angel Grove High, the rangers were glad to be immersed in their normal lives as high school students.

"Hey guys," said Tanya. "Ready for the Math test?"

"You had to remind me," groaned Rocky.

Kat put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on Rocky. It won't be that bad. You studied, right?"

"I studied so much my brain feels like it's going to explode."

Tommy laughed. "Just keep it in till after the math test. Then it won't matter if your brain goes."

"Too late." Adam grinned. "Rocky's brain's long gone."

"Hey!"

The rangers laughed as Rocky slapped the back of Adam's head, but they were interrupted by the familiar sound of their communicators.

"Drat!"

Jason pointed to an empty corridor where they quickly gathered.

"What is it?"

"Guys, I've got some news."

"Is Andros awake?" asked Jason.

"Oh, he's awake," replied Billy, "He's also gone."

"What?"

"Billy, do you know where he went?"

"He couldn't have gone too far from the Power Chamber, but I have no idea in which direction."

Rocky frowned. "Can't we track him down using his power signature?"

"Unfortunately we don't have his power signature in the scanners' databank. We have his bio signature, but scanning for that will take ages."

"What about his injuries?" asked Adam in concern.

"Most of his minor injuries have already been healed due to his connection to the Power, but his more serious injuries could be easily aggravated."

A glance passed between all the rangers.

"Look, Billy," said Tommy. "We'll come up to the Power Chamber and help you search."

"No guys. You've missed enough school due to monster attacks. I can handle this."

Tommy sighed, "Alright Billy. Good luck."

"Thanks," said Billy and cut the link.

**ooooo**

Andros' foot slipped sending loose rocks down the mountain. He watched them as they fell to the valley below. Growing dizzy, he closed his eyes for a moment before moving on. The path had grown rough after he left the Power Chamber. The terrain was rocky with few trees and bushes. It was hard on his feet and running on his injured ankle had caused the pain to flare up again forcing him to limp. He used his left hand to hold himself up and pull himself along. His hand was scratched and worn from the sharp rocks he held on to. His other arm hung uselessly in the sling. The sun shone down on him as he wandered aimlessly through the mountains. Andros tired quickly, but he struggled on.

After an hour, his tiredness and pain finally forced him to stop. Leaning against a rocky out-crop, he slid to the ground and sat in a small patch of shade. He was in a daze. His eyes stared forward. His mind was blank. He sat there barely conscious of his surroundings or even his own pain. After a few minutes, his body succumbed and he fell asleep.

**ooooo**

The scanner console beeped to indicate that it had finished scanning another region. Leaning over the console, Billy sighed as the results once again came up negative. He only just managed to stop himself from kicking the machine in frustration.

"Any luck?" asked Zordon.

"Not yet," responded Alpha.

"There has to be a better way than this," muttered Billy as he set up the scanners to search another sector. "We don't know which direction he would have gone and scanning each sector around the Power Chamber for his bio signature is taking too long."

"Do you know why he left?"

Sighing again, Billy sat down on the floor and leaned his back against the console. He put a hand through his hair and tried to rub some of the tension from his head. "It must have been something Alpha and I said, but I don't know what or why he ran off. He has no where to go."

Billy blinked as he thought about what he had just said then suddenly he sprang up. "Wait a second! Alpha do a wide band scan for any Alien technology in Angel Grove."

"Certainly Billy." Alpha headed over to the scanner console.

"The only place Andros would know to go to would be his space ship, which he must have landed somewhere in Angel Grove."

Alpha called out as the scanners sounded. "The scans have found what appears to be a ship just a few miles from here on the edge of Angel Grove Forest."

"I'll teleport down and check it out." Billy headed over to the teleportation console and started punching in the coordinates.

"Be careful Billy."

"Don't worry Alpha."

"May the power protect you," said Zordon as Billy disappeared in a shimmer of white light.

**ooooo**

Andros blinked as he once again became aware of his surroundings. He grabbed onto the rock wall forcing his sore body to stand. He swore at the wrenching pain it caused in his ankle. Gazing around he blinked again and shook his head. With a turn of his wrist, his slightly battered morpher appeared and he lifted it to his face.

"DECA?" his dry voice croaked.

"Yes, Andros," came the electronic voice through the static.

"Whe…where am I?"

"The planet Earth. More precisely the United States of America, in the desert region of Angel Grove, California."

"Wha…the ship?"

"You landed the remains of the Astromegaship next to the Angel Grove Forest. Two kilometers 31 degrees north of your current position."

"Are you alright Andros?" the computer asked suddenly concerned.

"I'm fine," muttered Andros as he slowly set out in the direction he hoped would lead him to his ship. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

**ooooo**

The shimmer re-materialized into Billy at the edge of the mountains. Shading his eyes, Billy gazed around. He didn't see the ship until he turned around and almost hit his nose against it. His vision full of a blue, metal wall, Billy stepped back to get a better look. He marveled as his eyes graced the battered ship.

"Definitely a much higher level of technology than Earth," Billy said to himself. "It might even be more complex than the Power Chamber and the Zeo Zords. I wonder how I get inside."

Billy wandered round the edge of the ship looking for a door. He winced at the many blaster burns covering the hull and wondered how the ship had actually made it to Earth. Climbing over some rocks that the megaship had crashed into, he finally came upon a door, but after a thorough search, he couldn't find anyway to open it, so he continued his search.

Around the other side, he came across the breach in the hull. It was a couple of meters up, but it was big enough for him to get through. He was preparing to climb the side of the ship when he heard something behind him.

Startled Billy turned around and quickly got into a fighting stance as he was greeted by the evil laugh of another one of the Machine Empire's metal monsters. It was black and silver with wires surrounded it connecting to all parts of its body.

"I am Telecon." The monster brought out a long, black katana as he greeted Billy.

"Prince Gasket has sent me to retrieve this ship for the Machine Empire."

"Well, I'm sorry but I don't believe this ship belongs to them."

"The Machine Empire owns whatever it wants including this planet."

"Then I'm afraid that I'll just have to disagree."

"You're nothing but a former ranger. You have no powers."

"Doesn't mean I can't still fight you."

Telecon growled and charged towards the former Blue Ranger. Billy rolled and ducked around kicking the monster in the back as he came up behind him.

"Arrrgg!" The metal along the monsters face twisted into a warped snarl as he came at Billy with a series of powerful blows.

Billy managed to block the first few, but a kick got through his defenses and he was sent flying into a tree. Gasping, Billy quickly got up. He knew he couldn't defeat this monster like this. He just hoped he could keep it occupied until the rangers showed up.

**ooooo**

Tommy was in AGH's library when his communicator went off. Giving an apologetic look to the glaring librarian, he quickly left the library and found a secluded spot outside.

"What's the matter?"

"Billy was attacked by one of Gaskets monsters while he was out searching for Andros."

"Why did he attack Billy?"

"Billy was investigating Andros' ship, when Gasket decide he wanted the ship for himself. You must gather the other rangers and help Billy."

"Zordon, I'll have to get them out of school. I'm the only one who isn't stuck in a class right now."

"I have my up most confidence in you, Tommy."

Turning off his communicator, Tommy sighed and leaned against the outside wall. 'Time for another ranger escape plan,' he thought. They had already used most of the excuses he could think of. The others would already be in trouble because of their communicators going off. It was lucky that he was out of class.

An idea finally striking, Tommy quickly headed back into the school walking along the hallways until he found what he was looking for. He double-checked to make sure the corridor was empty before reaching up and swiftly pulling the fire alarm. As the loud siren sounded, he lifted up his communicator to teleport away.

"What do you think you're doing, Mr. Oliver?"

Lowering his wrist, Tommy turned around to see the principal, Mr. Kaplan, glaring at him.

"Um, I…I thought I saw smoke coming out of the cafeteria," Tommy mumbled.

"There is no smoke, Thomas!" shouted Mr. Caplan over the sound of the alarm. "You're coming with me."

After turning off the alarm, Mr. Kaplan grabbed hold of Tommy's shoulder. As Tommy was dragged away to Mr. Caplan's office, he prayed that the others had managed to find a way out.

**ooooo**

Jason and Kat had been preparing to leave their classroom with the rest of their fellow students when the fire alarm stopped. Stopping in confusion, they stood around waiting for an explanation.

Mr. Kaplan's voice came over the PA system. "False alarm. There is no fire. All students should immediately return to their classrooms. I repeat. It was a false alarm. Return to your regular classes."

As the students returned to their seats, Jason whispered to Kat, "Tommy must have tried to get us out, but I guess he got caught."

"I hope some of the others managed to get out. I wonder what's going on." Kat whispered back.

"It doesn't' look like we're going to get out any time soon. Mrs. Applebee's in a rotten mood. You know how she hates it when people pull the fire alarm."

"But the end of class isn't for another 15 minutes."

"Miss Hillard, Mr. Scott. Could the two of you please be quiet and pay attention?"

Startled by their teacher's voice, Kat and Jason gave each other a last frustrated glance before turning their attention to what Mrs. Applebee was trying to teach them.

**ooooo**

In their own class, Tanya, Adam and Rocky were stuck in the same situation, but Rocky tried one last old excuse and raised his hand.

"Mr. Boustos, I need to go to the washroom."

"Well, Mr. DeSantos. I'm sure you can hold it in for the rest of the class."

"But I really have to go."

"Like the time before when you had to go so badly you didn't come back to class for half an hour."

Sighing in frustration, Rocky put down his hand and slouched back down in his chair. He heard the unified groan of Adam and Tanya from behind him.

**ooooo**

Billy was hit by another slash of Telecon's sword. He reeled slamming into the ground. Panting heavily, he struggled to his feet and stood there holding his injured shoulder. He wasn't planning to give up. Billy and Telecom locked gazes neither backing down.

"Well, former ranger," taunted Telecon. "I bet you wish you still had you ranger powers now."

Billy simply glared at the monster and readied himself for another attack.

Telecon lifted his sword preparing to strike. "Goodbye, ranger."

Just as Telecon's sword came down, a red streak rushed in and knocked Billy out of the way. At first, Billy was sure that Tommy had finally arrived, but as he got a good look, he realized the red ranger was not one he had seen before.

"Andros?"

The ranger nodded before charging towards Telecon, his strange spiral sword raised. The two were instantly sharing blows in a twirling sword fight. Being morphed, Andros was able to stand on his injured ankle, but his right arm was still unusable. Even with his Spiral Saber in his left hand, the Red Astro Ranger was able to block most of other's blows and finally got in a hard enough hit to cause Telecon to fly away from him. Andros didn't waste any time.

"Spiral Saber Booster Mode."

Telecon burst into flames, exploding as he crashed into the ground. He left only a few ashes behind.

Billy came up to Andros and put his hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, Andros. You saved my life."

Andros jerked away from the hand. He stared at Billy through his helmet's visor. "How do you know my name?"

"Zordon told me" Billy gave Andros a concerned look. He wondered how much Andros actually remembered about what happened yesterday evening.

"You're a Power Ranger?"

"A former ranger. I gave my place to someone else."

Suddenly a stream of multicolored lights appeared, indicating the arrival of the Zeo Rangers. Andros took a step back glancing warily at the new people.

"It's alright." Billy tried to reassure Andros.

The Red Zeo Ranger rushed forward. "Billy, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Andros destroyed the monster."

The Zeo Rangers looked over at the new red ranger in surprise. They glanced at each other, confused by Andros' sudden change. Tommy gave the signal and they powered down.

"Then we owe you our thanks," said Jason stepping towards Andros.

Andros backed away again. "You're not Trey. What are you doing with the Gold Ranger's powers?"

"You know Trey?" asked Rocky.

"Listen." Jason lifted his hands in a pacifying gesture as Andros continued to look at him warily. "There was an accident which separated Trey into his three components. I'm just protecting his powers until he can be restored to his original form."

Andros nodded slowly and demorphed back into his ragged apparel. Tommy took this as a good sign.

"We probably should introduce ourselves. I'm Tommy, this is Jason, Adam, Kat, Tanya, Rocky and the one you just saved is Billy," he said pointing to each ranger in turn.

"I'm called Andros." Feeling dizzy, Andros stumbled slightly to the side. Jason took hold of his shoulder to steady him.

"That's it. We're getting you back to the Power Chamber," commanded Billy. "You shouldn't have been out of bed let alone fighting."

Adam, who had seen Billy rubbing his injured shoulder, commented, "He's not the only one who could use a little attention."

Tommy activated his communicator and told Alpha to transport them to the Power Chamber.

When they arrived, Adam led Andros back over to the medical bed to check him over while Katherine cleaned up Billy's shoulder and put a bandage on the painful cut made by Telecon's sword.

"What is their condition?" Zordon questioned.

"Andros is going to have to spend a few extra days in bed," responded Adam putting the hand-held medical scanner away. "He strained some of his injuries."

Kat helped Billy put his shirt back on over his bandaged shoulder while pronouncing, "Billy's just fine. His shoulder will take longer to heal, but the remnants of the power in him will help."

"I'm sorry we couldn't get to you earlier." Jason put his hand on his friend's good shoulder. "But we had a bit of a tough time getting out of class."

"And I've got the three weeks of detention to prove it," muttered Tommy.

"It's okay guys." Billy smiled. "I know what its like."

Zordon, meanwhile, was gazing at Andros who was sitting quietly on the side of the medical bed while Adam replaced some of his bandages.

"Andros." The injured young man refused to meet Zordon's eyes. "I was hoping since you were now awake that you could explain to us what happened on KO-35."

Everyone's gaze moved over to the Red Astro Ranger. Andros himself gazed downwards and remained silent.

"Andros, I know it is hard for you to tell us what happened, but we need to understand what's going on."

Andros sighed as he looked at his feet. He started to speak slowly and softly, his eyes never leaving the ground.

"Dark Specter launched an all out invasion on KO-35. We managed to hold him off for a few months, but his army was massive. There were piranhatrons, quantrons and monsters everywhere. We had no choice, but to abandoned the planet. Several ships were launched…not all of them got away. The other rangers…didn't make it. I…"

"Zordon that's enough," said Adam. "He needs to rest."

"Thank you, Andros, that will do for now. Rangers it would be best if you left."

The Zeo Rangers prepared to go, but before they transported away Tommy turned to Andros.

"I'd just like to thank you again for saving Billy."

Andros looked up for the first time since they had arrived in the Power Chamber and met the Red Zeo Ranger's gaze. Tommy was struck by the odd look in his eyes.

"We rangers have to look after each other," Andros replied.


	3. Teammate

**Teammate**

**Different Directions 3**

**By Daylight**

A single hand penetrated through the fiery remains of KO-35, the sight swallowing Andros' soul. In a part of his mind, he vaguely realized that he was still screaming his friend's name. For that moment, he was frozen, but then he pushed himself forward. But before he could reach his friend, the hand moved. It grabbed hold of a fragment of the broken concrete and pulled. Another hand appeared, this one burned and covered with blood. Shocked back into stillness, Andros watched as his best friend emerged from the ruble. The silver figure's uniform was covered in burns; blood flowed from a slice along the chest of the normally impenetrable armor. Through Zhane's cracked helmet, Andros could see his hatred.

"How could you?" came the rough voice.

"Zhane?'

"YOU KILLED ME!!"

"No………"

"It's your fault. You were our leader. You're the one who should have died!"

Andros took a step back as the others came up behind Zhane. His family and fellow rangers, burned and broken, staggered towards him.

"No…"

"You killed us all."

"No!"

"Andros?"

He felt someone grab his shoulder and shake him. He sat up to find himself on a sweat soaked bed in an unfamiliar room. Glancing swiftly around, he came upon the face of the person who had woken him and he remembered where he was.

"Hey man, you okay?" asked Tommy kneeling next to the cot where Andros rested.

"I'm fine," he replied as he tried to catch his breath.

"That must of have been some rotten nightmare."

"I don't remember," he lied.

"Are you going to be alright?"

"I said I'm fine!" growled Andros. He lay back down turning away from his concerned roommate.

**ooooo**

Tommy went back to his bed and lay down. He sighed as he stared at the ceiling. After Andros had spent a week recovering from his injuries, they had thought it a good idea for him to get away from the Power Chamber and Tommy had willingly volunteered to have Andros stay at his house. Alpha had told him about the nightmares Andros was having, but Tommy hadn't realized how violent they were. He turned over in his bed trying not to wonder what had happened to Andros to make him scream so each night.

**ooooo**

"Would you like some pancakes, Andros?"

Charlotte Oliver's offer was greeted by a confused look from her guest, which she returned. Tommy's mother was a bit unsure about Andros. She had gladly allowed him to stay with them when her son had explained about the tragic house fire that had stolen Andros' home. But something was a little off about this new friend of Tommy's. He acted strangely at times, but said very little. At first, she thought he was still in shock from the fire. Yet, she couldn't help wondering if there was something more going on. Ever since they had arrived in Angel Grove, she could never shake the feeling that Tommy was hiding something from her. Usually, she attributed it to him being a normal teenager, but sometimes…

Meanwhile Andros had turned his confused look on to Tommy.

Tommy smiled. "Don't worry. You'll love Mom's pancakes."

Andros nodded at Mrs. Oliver and she served a couple of pancakes onto his plate. Charlotte went on to serve her son and her husband before sitting down. She watched Andros as he prodded the pancakes with his fork.

"Have some syrup, Andros," said Tommy as he poured it across Andros' pancakes. Andros continued to poke at his pancakes uncertainly.

"So guys, what are your plans for spring break?" asked Tommy's father.

"I'm helping Andros on a project of his."

"That sounds wonderful," exclaimed Mrs. Oliver. "What's the project, Andros?"

Andros kept his eyes on his plate.

"It's a secret," Tommy quickly explained. "Come on Andros, we'd better go get started."

"But Andros hasn't finished his breakfast yet."

"That's okay," muttered Andros. "I'm not hungry." He pushed his plate away and followed Tommy out of the kitchen.

**ooooo**

The bridge of the Astro Megaship was deserted and dim. A dull glow came from the emergency lights above. Only static came from the cracked view screen. The floor was covered with shards of metal and glass. Frayed ends of electrical wires stuck out of every crevice. An occasional spark would come from the broken consoles. A pattern of scorch marks was spread across the walls and the command chair lay on it's side, torn from its housing.

The arrival of the power rangers lit the room with multicoloured light for a moment before everything returned to darkness.

"Man," Rocky exclaimed, gazing over all the damage, "This place looks pretty beat up."

"It's been worse." Andros walked over to one of the consoles and started working on some of the circuitry.

"Worse!"

"At least DECA's still online."

"I am functioning at only 19 capacity."

The earth rangers jumped at the sound of the voice and looked around for the source.

"Who was that?" asked Tanya, her eyes wide.

"I am DECA, on-board computer."

Billy raised his eyebrows. "Your computer has artificial intelligence?"

Andros nodded as he continued to work. Suddenly some of the main lights came on creating a somewhat more hospitable environment.

"That's better," muttered Andros. He turned to look at his guests. "Look, I know Zordon sent you down here to help, but there's not much you can do."

"We'll help in anyway we can," stated Tommy. The others nodded in agreement.

"You're planetary rangers from Earth. I doubt you know much about spaceship construction."

Billy frowned. "I've learned a lot about spaceships from the Aquitians. The others have worked enough with the systems in the Power Chambers and in their Zords to help repair minor systems."

Andros shook his head. "The systems in the Power Chamber are nothing compared to the systems of the Astro Megaship."

The earth rangers shared a frustrated glance.

"We're all the help you have," insisted Tommy. He locked gazes with Andros' contemptuous stare until Andros finally lowered his eyes.

"Fine," resigned Andros, scowling. "Billy, Tommy, and Adam can try to work on the Mega Accelerator. I'll work on the bridge systems."

"What about the rest of us?" asked Rocky, his arms crossed across his chest.

"You can clean the cargo bay."

**ooooo**

Rocky hefted another crate onto the stack he'd been pilling up.

"Why are we left with the clean-up chores?"

"Maybe because you wouldn't know a scanner from an engine," responded Tanya as she swept up a shattered canister.

"Okay, okay," admitted Rocky as he set another crate down, "but Andros didn't have to make it sound so degrading."

"Or act so superior," muttered Tanya.

"Give him a break, you guys. He's still recovering from everything that's happened." Kat was busy sweeping the floor in another corner of the cargo bay.

"I know." Tanya swept the remains of the canister into a dustpan and dumped it into the waste disposal chute. Sitting down on one of the crates, she added, "but his attitude is just getting on my nerves."

"He hasn't even told us everything. We still don't know how the other Astro rangers died." Rocky dumped another crate on to the pile before sitting down too.

Kat leaned on her broom. "I can't imagine what it'd be like if any of us died."

"I guess he doesn't want to think about it, let alone tell us what happened," commented Tanya after a period of silence. She rested her head in her hands.

"But why did he survive, while the others died?" asked Rocky. "He was supposed to be their leader."

They sat there for a while thinking, but none of them could come up with an answer.

**ooooo**

Andros grumbled as he finished reconnecting another section of DECA's systems. He didn't like strangers working on his ship. They'd probably do more harm than good. As he pushed himself to his feet, he decided to check on the work in the engine room before they broke something he couldn't fix.

Walking down the corridors of the Astro Megaship, Andros came to an open door and peered inside. The room was a mess. Even though the equipment was scattered all over the place, it was obvious that the area had once been a gym.

"The door mechanism must have broken in the crash," Andros muttered.

_Andros entered the room. The gym had a random assortment of weight training and cardiovascular equipment the rangers had collected from all over the galaxy. But even with all this equipment, what the rangers used most for their workouts was the mat that lay in the middle of the floor. But today, Andros had not limped into the gym to spar._

_"Hey, Andros! How's the leg?"_

_Andros jumped, cursing softly. He had hoped the gym would be empty and hadn't seen the pink ranger when he'd entered. She grinned at Andros from where she sat doing exercises in a corner._

_"Doing your physical therapy?" asked Lasha, brushing her long, white braids back behind her ears. The pink ranger was an Omaran and her light blue skin shone brightly._

_"Yeah," muttered Andros. _

_Hearing the loathing in his voice, Lasha shook her head. "It's for your own good. You want that leg to get better, right?"_

_"Well, it doesn't seem to be helping much."_

_"Just give it some time," consoled Lasha as she pulled herself over to one of the machines to begin lifting weights._

_Andros set himself up on the mats where he began stretching his leg. "Like everything else around here it seems to be taking too much time."_

_"I know you want to get right back into the action, Andros, but your body needs time to heal. You took a bad blow. You should expect it to be awhile before you're back to your old strength."_

_"It shouldn't have happened." Andros sat down and glared at his recovering leg._

_Lasha sighed. "Don't be stupid. You couldn't have known that it was a trap."_

_"I should have known."_

_Andros' thoughts turned back to the battle that had occurred the week before. Everything had appeared normal, an ordinary fight for the rangers. A monster had been terrorizing the people of KO-35. The monster wasn't anything spectacular, but as Andros ran forward to face it, everything went wrong. The monster disappeared. Confused, Andros had stopped. Then the ground blew up beneath him. He was knocked unconscious by the blast. When he woke up in the med bay, he found out that he'd been lucky. His suit had absorbed most of the blast. Unfortunately, his leg, which had been closest to the point of explosion, had been badly injured. Thanks to the power, he was able to recover much quicker than normal, but it still wasn't fast enough for Andros._

_"I hate this," Andros cursed as he finished his stretches. Standing up, he moved over to the treadmill where he started to jog. Eventually he turned up the speed until he was running._

_"Andros!" protested Lasha. "Stop that! It's too soon for you to be going that fast."_

_"I'm fine," replied Andros as he kept running._

_Dropping her weights, the Pink Astro Ranger glared at her pig headed leader. "As chief medical officer, I order you to stop."_

_"I said, I'm fi…" Andros was cut off as a sharp pain went through his leg. He swore as it gave out beneath him and he collapsed to the ground. Luckily, Deca stopped the treadmill before it threw Andros off._

_Lasha slid over to where Andros was lying on his back cursing away._

_"Well, what did I say?" she questioned as she examined his leg._

_"I know. I know," he grumbled. "I just hate being so helpless."_

_"Andros, you are not helpless."_

_"But I'm no good to the team like this."_

_"Yes, you are! You still do a lot to help the team. I aught to know. I've heard the 'you are a valuable member of the team' speech from you enough times. You should listen to yourself once and awhile."_

_"I'm sorry, Lasha."_

_Lasha gave him a small kiss on his cheek. "You're forgiven."_

_Andros sighed and carefully stood up._

_"Are you steady enough?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"Then would you please help me over to my chair. I think exercise time is over."_

_Andros smiled. He reached down to take Lasha into his arms and slowly carried her over to the door where he placed her into the wheelchair._

_…Lasha, demorphed, unable to move, lying helpless as the sword swung down towards her…_

Andros shook his head forcing the memories to the back of his mind and quickly left the room.

**ooooo**

"Damn."

Billy stopped his work to glance over at the Green Zeo Ranger. "What happened?"

"I got shocked again," replied Adam with a grimace.

"You should be glad for the shock protection in these things. Do you have any idea how many volts are running through these systems?"

"I don't want to know."

Tommy laughed. He was on the upper deck working on the Mega Accelerator while Adam worked on circuitry below and Billy tried to recalibrate the power systems. "If you keep that up, Adam, you'll have an even bigger 'fro."

"Hey!"

Just then, Andros entered. The other rangers eyed him questioningly. He didn't say a word, simply climbed up the ladder to the upper level where Tommy was working. The Red Zeo Ranger was repairing one of the energy-feed coils. The strain of the high-speed voyage to earth had caused several cracks to appear in them.

"Let me see," demanded Andros. Tommy handed him the coil he was working on. Andros carefully examined the coil before handing it back to Tommy. "Fine," he said, "just make sure you don't miss any of the cracks."

Andros moved over to a control panel and started performing a diagnostic. The work continued in a tense silence, until…

"Shit!" Adam cried out as an explosion came from the panel he was working on.

Andros slid down the ladder, grabbed a fire extinguisher off the wall and put the fire out. "What do you think you're doing?! Planning to blow up the engine were you?"

"Sorry," Adam apologized rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't know what happened."

"If you don't know what's going on, then you shouldn't be working on the accelerator." Andros shook his head. "I knew it was a bad idea to have you guys help. You don't know anything about the Megaship."

Tommy came down too and walked over to his friend. "Are you ok, Adam?"

"Yeah. I was just startled."

Billy meanwhile was pocking in the still smoking panel. "There was a power surge. Adam had removed the surge protector to work on some of the other systems."

Andros still glared angrily.

Tommy's jaw clenched. "It wasn't his fault."

"He should have been more careful. He shouldn't have taken the surge protector off when the power systems haven't even been fixed yet."

"But Andros…"

"Just forget it. Go back to work," Andros muttered as he walked out of the engine room.

Billy and Adam turned their gazes to Tommy.

"I know he's been through a lot…" started Adam.

"But his attitude is getting to be a sever problem," concluded Billy.

Tommy sighed and ran his fingers through his long, mahogany hair. "I'll talk to him."

**ooooo**

Andros steamed through the corridors on his way to the bridge. He cursed himself for letting strangers work on his ship. What was I thinking, he thought, what am I doing? He grabbed a chunk of broken circuitry off the ground and threw it into the open doorway of the workbay. Scraps of twisted metal and fragments of machinery already covered the room's floor.

_"Aren't you supposed to be working on the engine?" he demanded._

_"Get DECA to do it," came the reply. "I'm busy."_

_Ignoring the Blue Astro Ranger's pointless answer, Andros asked another question. "What are you doing?"_

_"Um…well…" The ranger looked up from where he sat on the workbay floor surrounded by various scraps of machinery._

_"Karak!"_

_The horathian ranger scratched the spikes on top of his head and looked down at the machine in his hand._

_"Well, in theory, it should help make the power systems more efficient."_

_"In theory?"_

_"It's just an idea."_

_"How's it supposed to work?"_

_Karak frowned. "I'm not really sure."_

_Andros sighed and sat down on the floor beside Karak. He held out his hand and the blue ranger handed him the machine._

_"Do you know what you're doing?" asked Karak as Andros started tinkering with the machine._

_"Does it matter?"_

_"I guess not."_

_Andros placed the machine on the floor between them and started adding parts to it from the many pieces of machinery lying around. Karak raised his eyebrows, picked up another piece and joined in._

_"Had another fight with DECA?" asked Andros as they continued adding pieces._

_"She woke me up very early this morning and wouldn't let me go back to sleep."_

_"And what had you done?" Andros smiled, knowingly._

_"I was just complaining about the synthetron food again."_

_"And…"_

_"And I threatened to rearrange her voice circuits if the food didn't improve."_

_Andros sighed. "Karak, threatening DECA is not a particularly good way to get her to do what you want."_

_"There's another way?"_

_Andros laughed and slapped Karak on the back. "Come on lets plug this into a power source and see if it works."_

_"Are you sure that's a good idea?"_

_"Why?" asked Andros with a smirk. "Don't you think your machine will work?"_

_"After you've worked on it, I'll be surprised if it doesn't blow up."_

_"Hey! I only added a little. You invented the thing."_

_"It'll work." Karak attached it to a nearby power conduit. A light glowed, as the machine powered up. "See."_

_Suddenly the gentle hum of Karak's invention turned into a high pitch whine. Andros and Karak had a second to glance at each other before the machine they had been working on promptly blew up. The two rangers were knocked off their feet as the machine filled the room with smoke and showered them with bits of debris._

_"I was only joking about it blowing up you know," Karak coughed._

_Andros looked at Karak's slightly blackened face and clothes and started to laugh. Soon Karak joined in and the two were rolling around on the floor holding their sides._

_"What happened?" asked the Black Astro Ranger as he dashed into the room, but all he got in response was more laughter. He rolled his eyes. _

_The Yellow Astro Ranger peered round the door and sniggered. "Zhane come quick. There's something wrong with Andros, he's actually laughing."_

_Zhane joined the yellow ranger in the doorway. He shook his head before joining in with the laughter of the blackened pair on the floor._

_…Karak's blackened body lying on the ground still smoldering and smoking…_

Andros hurried away, leaving the memory behind.

**ooooo**

Tommy found Andros on the bridge, his back towards him as he sat continuing the recalibration of DECA's systems.

"Andros, I need to talk to you."

"Did your rangers blow up my engine again?" muttered Andros as he continued to stab his fingers against the buttons on the console.

"That explosion wasn't Adam's fault."

Andros turned round in his chair to face Tommy. Crossing his arms over his chest, he glowered at him. "Right, but an accidental explosion can just as easily blow up the ship."

"What is your problem, Andros? We're trying to help you."

"Well, you're not succeeding."

Clenching his fists, Tommy let out a deep breath. "I know you're going through a tough time, but that's no reason force your anger onto us."

Andros stood up stepping forward to stare fiercely into the eyes of the Red Zeo Ranger. "You have no idea what I'm going through."

"How can I when you won't even tell us what happened?" Tommy shouted not backing down.

"You wouldn't understand!"

"I know we can't feel what you feel, but you could at least let us be there for you!" replied Tommy leveling his finger at Andros. The Red Astro Ranger knocked it away.

"I didn't ask for any help!"

"Well, you certainly need some!"

The shouting suddenly stopped and there was an uncomfortable silence. Rubbing his forehead, Tommy stepped back. "Aw, man. I'm sorry. I had no right to shout at you like that."

Andros crossed his arms across his front looking at the ground. "I'm sorry too. It's just…"

"It's ok," replied Tommy. After another moment of awkward silence, he added, "We're going down to the Youth Center later for lunch. Do you what to come?"

With a slight hesitation, Andros quietly replied, "Sure."

Tommy nodded and left. On the bridge, Andros sat down and turned back to the console he had been working on, but his mind drifted away.

_Andros swore at the scanners as the search once again came up negative. Throwing the map he'd been using across the room, he buried his head in his hands. It was all useless. He would never find her. _

_He was just reaching for the locket that hung round his neck when he heard a noise. Turning around, he saw the black ranger standing behind him._

_"What do you want?" Andros demanded. He took a quick glance at scanner screen and was glad to see that DECA had hidden the work he had been doing._

_"Andros, I need to talk to you."_

_The Red Astro Ranger leaned tiredly against the console. "Can't it wait till morning, Sol?" _

_"No, it can't," replied Solrac. "I have to leave as soon as possible."_

_"What?" shouted Andros standing up in disbelief. "You can't leave. Dark Specter has started to step up his attacks. We need you here."_

_"I need to go back to Triforia."_

_"Why?"_

_Sol turned away. "None of your business." _

_Andros grabbed Solrac's shoulder and turned him back so they faced each other "It's my business when one of my rangers goes gallivanting off for no reason when there's a war on. Dark Specter will destroy the whole universe if we don't stop him."_

_"The whole universe?" questioned Sol pushing Andros' hand off his shoulder. "I believe it's only your own dear planet, KO-35, that Dark Specter has recently set his eyes on. He hasn't attacked Triforia or any of its colonies for several years."_

_Andros crossed his arms across his chest. "You know perfectly well that we come to the aid of every planet in need."_

_"Yeah, and you just happen to hold KO-35 above any of the other planets we've helped."_

_Andros slammed the palm of his hand onto a nearby console. "Well maybe I do!" he shouted. "Do you expect me to feel nothing? This is my home planet we're talking about. You'd feel the same if it were yours."_

_Andros shot Sol a glare, which cut deep into his soul. Sol looked away._

_"I'm sorry but I still have to leave."_

_"But we need you," Andros pleaded. "You can't leave."_

_"You don't understand."_

_"Then tell me why you have to go."_

_"It's a personal matter…"_

_It was only for a second, but Andros caught it, the flicker of Solrac's form, as if two shadows were trying to pull away from him._

_Andros blinked. "Sol?" he asked the concern written on his brow as he gazed worriedly at the Black Astro Ranger. "What's wrong?"_

_Solrac remained quiet, staring into the distance of the star covered view screen._

_"Something must be very wrong if it's almost got you separating into your three parts."_

_Sol gave a quiet sigh. "I have to go to Triforia to see my family."_

_"Your family?" Andros frowned. "Last I remember you didn't get along with your parents. They were the reason you left in the first place."_

_"I have a sister," explained Sol who was too busy looking at the view screen to notice the look that passed through Andros' eyes. "She's run away. I need to help find her." _

_This time Andros turned away. "Go." He sat down not bothering to look round to catch the black ranger's reaction. "Go home, Sol."_

Sol was confused by the sudden change in attitude, but decided not to question it. "Thank you," he replied and quietly left the bridge. He was too concerned with his own problems to wonder long about the odd behavior of the ranger's leader.

…Sol's face, so recently smiling from the reunion with his sister, covered in blood…

On the bridge, Andros once again rested his elbows on the console and buried his face in his hands.

**ooooo**

"Hey, Ernie!"

The owner of the Angel Grove Youth Center looked up from where he was busy washing glasses and smiled at his favorite customers. "Hey, guys!" He pointed towards a table in a corner. "Jason's been waiting for you."

"Thanks"

As the rangers seated themselves at the table, Tommy cast a concerned glance at his best friend. "What happened to you this morning, Jase? When I called, your Mom said you were still asleep."

"I guess I was just tired," Jason replied, yawning. "How are the repairs going?"

Before anyone could answer, Ernie arrived at their table. "What'll it be?"

Tommy glanced at the others. "I'd say burgers all round, right guys?" The Earth rangers agreed. Andros simply gave him a blank look.

"You must be new." Ernie grinned down at the stripy-haired young man. "I'm Ernie. I own the Youth Center."

"I'm Andros."

"Did you just move to Angel Grove?"

"He's staying with me for a few days," Tommy quickly answered.

"Well, it was a pleasure meeting you." Ernie left returning in a little while with their hamburgers.

Normally, Andros would have been fascinated by the strange food and surroundings, but this day he was too locked away in his own mind. While the others chatted happily to each other, Andros stayed silent. He lifted the thing they called a hamburger to his mouth and prepared to eat.

_"Stop right there!"_

_Andros jumped. Dropping his food, he turned around to find the Yellow Astro Ranger glaring at him. She stood with all four of her hands on her hips and her chameleon scales beginning to turn red, a sure sign of oncoming fury._

_"I was just..." Andros tried to say._

_"You were just," interrupted Lenerin, "about to eat some of that synthetron trash for dinner again. Weren't you?"_

_This time Andros didn't even try to say anything. He just scrunched down on his stool irrationally thinking he could become small enough to escape her anger._

_"You know perfectly well that I have a real dinner currently cooking right next door and here I find you eating this garbage."_

_Lenerin grabbed Andros' plate and placed it back in the synthetron while simultaneously commanding Deca to recycle the plate and its contents._

_"You're coming with me."_

_Lenny then grabbed Andros by his shoulder and roughly shoved him out the door escorting him into the room next to the holding bay. The room used to be a storeroom before Lenny got her hands on it. Having a strong dislike for synthetron food, she had converted the room into a kitchen. The others had no problems with Lenny cooking. They loved her food. Unfortunately, Lennerin had also made it clear that she had no intention of being the only one to cook. So if you wanted to eat her food, you had to help her cook, which meant Lenny was constantly volunteering people to help her out in the kitchen._

_Andros hated cooking and preferred to eat alone. His hope had been to have a quick synthetron meal before escaping on a survey mission. He should have known he didn't stand a chance._

_"So, she got you too," greeted Zhane. He and Lasha were chopping vegetables while Sol attempted to mix ingredients in a large bowl._

_"Andros," said the blue ranger who was slowly stirring a pot on the stove. "You should know by now that you can never escape."_

_"Ha, ha." Lenny gave Karaka a slap on the back of the head._

_"Smell that," pronounced Zhane making a show of sniffing the air. "Smells like romance." He quickly ducked down as the blue and yellow rangers glared at him. Andros and Lasha stifled their laughter while Sol just shook his head._

_"Andros, you get to make the sauce tonight."_

_Andros groaned as Lenny handed him the ingredients. After a few moments of silent work, Andros called over to Zhane to pass him the pepper. Opening the cupboards above his head, Zhane sent the pepper over to Andros using telekinesis. As the peppershaker was on route, it suddenly detoured over to Lenny and dumped some pepper on her nose before finally arriving in Andros' hand._

_"ACHOO!!!!!"_

_Laughter quickly spread across the room._

_"Zhane!" screamed Lenny before sneezing again._

_"But...but…" stuttered Zhane. "It wasn't me."_

_Lenny crossed her arms and glared at the Silver Astro Ranger._

_"Sure," Sol droned. "The notorious prankster who just happened to be in control of the pepper wasn't the one who did it."_

_"Hey! It isn't always me," insisted Zhane trying to defend himself. "Someone else moved it while I was trying to get it over to Andros."_

_The gazes shifted over to Karak._

_"Don't look at me."_

_It was then that they heard the muffled laughter. They turned to see Andros still holding the pepper and becoming slightly red as he tried to hold back the laughs. Zhane snickered while the others stared at Andros with their mouths open. Regaining her senses, Lenny used her telekinesis to grab the pepper from Andros' hand, but before she could dump it on him, he managed to use his own telekinesis to stop her. It was a stalemate. The pepper pot hung in the middle of the room locked by the two gazes. They could have held out for a long time. Unfortunately, Lenny once again sneezed. She lost her concentration leaving Andros' telekinesis as the only force on the pepper. She ducked. The pepper wasn't so lucky. It smashed into the wall behind her sending a cloud of pepper through the air leaving everyone gasping for oxygen between their sneezing attacks and laughter._

_…Lenny gasping for air, dark hands round her bare neck…_

"Andros?"

When the other rangers had noticed Andros' distant expression, his food held frozen just off his plate, they had begun to worry. When he didn't answer when they called, they became even more concerned. Kat who was sitting next to him put a hand on his shoulder.

"Andros?" she asked again.

The red ranger started. Turning towards her, he was surprised to see all the concerned expressions. He put down his hamburger and stared at his plate.

"Are you alright?" questioned Jason.

"I'm fine," he mumbled.

The rangers turned back to their meal and conversation, not entirely satisfied by Andros' answer. Jason and Tommy continued describing the recent karate tournament they had participated in.

"We were an unbeatable team," boasted Tommy.

Adam smiled. "Like me, Rocky and Aisha."

Jason leaned forward. "Even better."

"Like that's possible," joked Rocky. Then he sighed. "I miss Aisha."

"So do I," added Kat.

"Don't worry guys," Adam consoled seeing the sad expressions on everyone's faces. "Remember, she's promised she'd come stay with us this summer."

"Right. Then we can see who really is the best."

"Your team's going down, Rocko," declared Jason.

"Really? Are you sure you two don't need another person? The teams seem a bit unbalanced."

Tommy grinned. "Naah! We have each other. Right, bro?"

"We'll always fight as a team."

"Yeah, man. Always!"

There was a large clatter. Water pooled across the table as Andros ran from the building.

"Andros?"

Shocked and confused, the Zeo Rangers followed the Astro Ranger out of the juice bar.

"Andros!"

They got outside just in time to see him escape into the trees. They stopped by the entrance unsure of how to proceed.

Rocky frowned. "What was that about?"

"I don't know," answered Tommy scratching the back of his head in frustration.

"Did you see his face?" asked Tanya.

"Maybe it was something we said," Kat remarked softly.

Tommy sighed. "Jason, Kat, go after him. The rest of us will go talk to Zordon."

Jason and Kat rushed into Angel Grove Park while the other rangers went to a secluded spot and teleported up to the Power Chamber.

**ooooo**

Dead leaves and broken branches were crushed under Andros' feet as he ran. Not bothering to keep to the path, he fought his way through the undergrowth. More branches snapped as he plowed through. Instinctively, he lifted his arms in front of his face, but he cared little about the trees scraping his skin.

You can't run away from your problems, they always say, but Andros kept running. At least while he was running, he was less likely to remember.

_"I'm talking forever, no kidding, really!"_

He slammed his feet harder against the ground. Little light came from the cloudy sky and even less managed to reach through the trees to where Andros raced. That didn't matter to him. He had no concern for the scenery. He had other things on his mind.

_"Why not! You and I will prove it."_

Andros stumbled, his foot caught on a root, but his feet were soon beneath him once more, his legs spinning almost beyond his control. Protected by the forest, Andros couldn't feel the wind, but he heard it blowing overhead and saw the trees shake. He shivered as well, but for different reasons.

_"We'll vow to fight as a team forever, right?"_

"No," he breathed. By now, he was gasping, and his wheezing filled the air. Being a ranger made him much fitter than an ordinary person, but he was still human. He could only sprint so far. His legs began to ache. His lungs burned. But the physical pain was so much easier to stand than the emotional pain. It helped him forget.

_"Always."_

He kept going until he could barely breath and his whole body was sore, but it wasn't enough.

_The explosion. The bloody, ghost-white hand sticking out of the smoking debris._

Andros broke through the forest and the land ended. Beyond were a cloudy sky and a deep chasm. His wearied body slowed just enough to stop before he could fall. He swayed as he stood at the edge of the cliff staring down into the darkest depth.

**ooooo**

Rocky slammed his hands against the scanner console.

"I thought Billy fixed this."

"I'm sorry, Rocky." Alpha put a pacifying hand on the Blue Zeo Ranger's shoulder as he explained. "We still don't have a record of Andros' power signature."

"Well, you'd better put it on the top of your 'to do' list," declared Tanya. "I don't think we can afford to keep losing Andros like this."

Grimacing, Adam crossed his arms across his chest. "We have to get him back before we can lose him again."

Two shimmers of light appeared in the middle of the Power Chamber as Kat and Jason arrived.

"Any luck?" Adam asked hopefully.

"No," answered Kat her forehead creased with worry. "And it's starting to rain."

"Where are Tommy and Billy?" Jason questioned.

"Tommy's at his house waiting to see if Andros will go back there. Billy's checking the Astro Megaship."

Just then, Billy transported into the Power Chamber. "Stupid computer," he grumbled moving over to check the scanners.

Jason raised his eyebrows at his bad tempered friend. "What is it?"

Leaning against the console, the former blue ranger rubbed a frustrated hand across his forehead. "DECA refuses to help us find Andros."

"Why?"

"She says if he wanted to be found, we would already know where he is," replied Billy his grip on the machinery intensifying. "I should go back and reprogram her circuits."

"Billy, I do not believe you need to resort to that sort of action," pronounced Zordon. "I'm sure Andros will return to us."

The room became silent, the rangers glancing at each other.

"But Zordon, what if he doesn't?" asked Tanya. "What if…"

**ooooo**

Icy drops pricked at his face.

"It's all my fault."

The wind blew straight at him. It came up through his clothes, into his body and froze his bones.

"My fault they died."

The water poured off him as his clothes became soaked through.

"My fault KO-35 was abandoned."

The wind held him back as if it was trying to prevent him from taking that one step.

"I would only cause more pain."

He looked up at the darkened sky. The rain joined the tears flowing down his face.

"Nothing left. Nothing."

The pain. The anguish. The guilt. It felt like a heavy hole in his heart

"Please stop! I just want it to stop!"

Screaming as the wind pushed back at him, he lifted his right foot over the edge. He heard his scream echo back at him. But he hesitated. He fought back, trying to force himself to take the leap. He screamed again in frustration, the echo screaming back. Finally, the wind died down. This is it, he thought. He concentrated all his anger and pain into one last effort. The wailing echo came again. A sudden realization hit him and he stopped. The scream sounded again, but it wasn't an echo. Someone or something was crying for help. A high-pitched cry that Andros realized actually came from the forest behind him and not the chasm he stood before. He turned around.

Walking back into the forest, he followed the sound until he came to a thick bush. Searching inside, he found a dark green garbage bag. As Andros watched, the bag moved and he heard the sound again. Brushing a soaked tendril of hair out of his face, he knelt down on the wet, muddy ground. Andros untied the bag and reached inside. His hand immediately touched something soft and warm. He pulled it out.

It was a kitten. Andros had never seen a kitten before. All he knew was that it was a baby and it was helpless. The bag still wriggled, so he put the kitten on his lap and reached inside once more. He continued doing this until he had five kittens on his lap. They were all crying and Andros was constantly replacing them on his lap as they moved about trying to understand what was happening to them.

A last look in the bag revealed the dead body of the kitten's mother. Orphans. Andros sighed. The kittens cried. All of them shivered. While Andros had been wondering what to do, the rain had soaked the kittens. Andros quickly gathered them into his coat, one in each pocket and the other three zipped up inside. He wrapped his arms around himself to keep them from falling out. Andros could sill hear their mewing and he could feel them wriggling against him. He had no choice. He started walking.

**ooooo**

The day had passed into evening and the rangers including Billy were gathered at Tommy's house. Zordon, tired of their pacing, had kicked them out of the Power Chamber stating that their continued presence wouldn't make the scans go any faster. The rangers had reluctantly gone to Tommy's holding out the hope that Andros would turn up.

Tommy paced the floor in the middle of the family room, feeling guilty. He shouldn't have shouted at Andros. He shouldn't have let him leave. Maybe if he had found out more about those nightmares… Andros was a ranger and that made him part of the team. And that made Tommy feel responsible for his welfare.

Adam and Rocky lounged at opposite ends of the couch tossing a crumpled ball of paper back and forth. It helped them concentrate on something else instead of the waiting.

Billy sat in one armchair a book on his lap. Jason sat in the other staring at the television. But neither were paying attention to what their eyes gazed at, both lost in thought.

Kat and Tanya were quietly talking in the kitchen, coffee warm in their hands as they kept a close eye on their communicators and the time.

Heads sprang up as they heard a knock. There was a scampering and scrabbling of feet as they all headed for the front door at the same time. Tommy reached it first, swiftly pulling it open.

The water covering the figure outside glistened in the light from the doorway. Silently, he stood there with a weary expression on his face, his arms around his wet, wriggling coat.

"Andros!"

"What happened?"

"Are you alright?"

"Where were you?"

"What on earth do you have in your coat?"

The last question stopped the barrage leaving the rangers in stunned silence as they all took notice of the odd condition of Andros' coat. Andros unzipped it and pulled out the kittens. "I found these in the forest." The others gaped before quickly scooping up the damp kittens as they began to squirm out of Andros' grasp. "Their mother was dead so I brought them here. I hope you don't mind."

Tommy looked at his fellow rangers as they cooed over the adorable kittens and grinned. "I don't think you have to worry about anyone minding." He put an arm around the Red Astro Ranger's shoulders and guided him inside.

**ooooo**

Later when the kittens and Andros had been dried off, the rangers sat around Tommy's family room drinking hot chocolate and playing with the kittens.

"Where did you find them?" Kat held one of the kittens up to her face giggling as it licked her nose.

"In the forest tied up in a plastic bag."

Tanya plucked the kitten from Kat's grasp. "How could anyone do such a thing?"

"Yeah! They're too cute to be abandoned," added Adam as he rolled the crumpled ball of paper along the carpet watching the kittens chase after it.

Next to Adam on the floor, Rocky laughed playfully slapping his best friend on the back.

Grinning at the antics of both the kittens and his friends, Jason moved over next to Andros who sat on the couch with another of the kittens resting on his lap. "Where exactly were they?"

"I'm not entirely sure. It was lucky I found a path on the way back or I probably would still be wandering around out there." Gently stroking the kitten, Andros kept his eyes lowered on the purring cat. "There was a deep chasm close by."

Tommy sitting on the arm of the couch placed a hand on his shoulder. "We're glad you made it back."

"Yeah. We were worried about you." Kat knelt down in front of Andros so she could look into his eyes. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Trying to avoid her gaze, Andros nodded his head blushing slightly at all the attention.

"You're part of out team now, man," declared Rocky with a wide smile.

"And as a member of our team we present you this." Billy fastened a communicator around Andros' wrist. "So, you'll never get lost again."

The rangers laughed.

Looking up, for the first time in a long while, Andros gave a true smile. "Thank you."

**ooooo**

On the rough, dusty surface of the moon next to a heap of scrap, which was once a Winnebago, two dark figures talked. The sound of their voices traveled magically through the air-less blackness.

"Is the monster ready?"

"Almost ready, my lord."

"When?"

"The monster is making the final preparations as we speak. We should be able to launch the attack tomorrow."

"Finally! Those rangers won't know what hit them."

"Could you keep it down, Edd? Some of us are trying to sleep."

"Argggh!!!"

**ooooo**

"Achoo!" Andros turned his head as he sneezed again. "Achoo!"

Tanya clucked her tongue. "You've must have caught a cold from getting soaked by the rain."

"A what?"

Before Tanya could answer, there was another knock at the door. Surprised, Tommy got up to open it. Outside, he found his second drenched visitor of the evening.

"Kimberly?"


	4. Friend

**Friend**

**Different Directions 4**

**By Daylight**

Hand still clenching the door handle, Tommy stared at the second drenched figure to have appeared on his doorstep that evening.

"Kimberly," he whispered again. Behind him, he heard the others gather round, all too stunned to say anything.

Dripping with rain, Kimberly stood with a nervous expression on her face and a large bag slung over her shoulder. "Surprise?" Her voice broke the others out of their trance. Ignoring the fact that she was still soaking wet, Adam, Billy, Rocky, Jason and Katherine gathered Kimberly into a group hug while the others stood back, each uncertain for different reasons.

Finally, Kimberly gasped out, "Guys, I missed you too, but I'm freezing my butt off out here."

They laughed and hurried her inside making quick introductions for Andros and Tanya on the way. Still in shock, Tommy stood eyes gazing unfocused at the rain glistening in the lamplight. Eventually, he took a deep breath, shut the door and joined the others.

**ooooo**

Later the dried rangers were gathered in the warm family room enjoying a second round of cocoa. Kimberly, looking little different from when she had left a year ago, stayed the centre of attention among her old friends who had yet to ask why she was there. Rocky soon gave out under his overwhelming curiosity.

"So Kim, what brings you back to Angel Grove? The Pan Globals are only a month away."

Kimberly smiled. "I decided to take some time off before I began some serious training."

Rocky raised a disbelieving eyebrow at the overenthusiastic gymnast and she looked down, smirking in slight embarrassment.

"Ok! Ok! Coach Smidt decided I needed the break."

They laughed and soon were caught up in a conversation about what had happened while Kim had been gone.

It was during this conversation that Adam felt something tug at his shoe. He looked down in confusion to find one of the kittens attacking his laces. He gently pushed it away and returned his concentration to the conversation, but it was only a few seconds before he felt the tug again. Adam sighed. This time he picked up the kitten and placed it on the arm of the chair he was sitting on, hopping it would stay there. Unfortunately, the kitten quickly jumped down. Adam watched it carefully, but it only had eyes for his shoes. The black kitten lay flat; it's chin to the floor, its tail twitching. Not a single yellow eye blinked before it pounced back on to Adam's shoe. He groaned as the others who had noticed the spectacle laughed.

Trying to hide her grin, Tanya watched the black kitten chewing Adam's shoelaces. "I think we'd better get them something to eat."

"Good idea." Tommy got up and headed for the kitchen. "I'll see what's in the fridge."

"They need names," exclaimed Kat suddenly.

Adam detached the black kitten from his shoe and lifted it up until it was at eye level with him. He stared into its eyes. It blinked back at him.

"Ninja," he declared. "What do you think, Andros?"

"Sounds good."

"What about that one?" asked Tanya pointing to the kitten Andros had been silently stroking on his lap.

Andros looked down at the calico. "Karone."

The others didn't questioned Andros' choice and the silence that followed was soon interrupted by the return of Tommy.

"Dinner is served," announced Tommy as he entered the room and laid a dish of tuna fish on the floor. The kittens' little noses went up as they smelled the fish and quickly headed over.

An orange and white kitten that was slightly bigger than the rest reached the food first. He immediately stuck his nose in and began to eat. When he finally looked up, his nose and face were covered in tuna. Laughing, Kat picked him up so the other kittens could have some.

"I've got the perfect name for this one," she decided holding tightly to the squirming cat. "Bulk."

Jason grinned. "That's perfect."

Names were tossed back and forth for the other two, but nothing was settled before they decided it was time to turn in. They separated, going off to their own homes agreeing to meet at the Youth Centre the next day. Katherine invited Kimberly stay at her house and Tommy's eyes followed them as they left.

"Tommy?" Andros had seen how strangely Tommy had been acting towards their surprise guest. He looked away and back at the Red Zeo Ranger, fumbling in his mind for something to say. "Are you alright?" he finally asked.

"I'm okay." Tommy took a deep breath as he continued to stare out the window after the shadows of the two girls. "It's just… Kimberly and I used to be very close. Then she sent me a letter saying that she had met someone else while she was away training. We haven't talked since." Running a hand through his long hair, he shook his head. "I…. I just don't know how to act around her now." Glancing over at Andros, he asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," replied Andros automatically.

Raising his eyebrows, Tommy stared at his fellow red ranger.

Andros sighed. "I'm better."

Tommy clapped him on the back. "I'm glad to hear it. Listen Andros, I know you've had a tough time, but we're here for you if you need us. Ok?"

Giving a small smile, Andros nodded. "Sure."

"Good. Now, help me find a place for these kittens before my parents come home. I don't want them tripping over them as they arrive."

Tommy was pleased to see Andros' smile widen.

**ooooo**

Bracing himself against the wind, Adam trudged along the muddy sidewalk marvelling at the changes in the world around him. Though it was already 10:30 that morning, it was still dark, the sun blocked behind a barrier of dark clouds that spread across the entire sky. Streams of water were falling from the clouds leaving the ground utterly saturated, puddles were everywhere. The strength of the wind bent the trees threatening to break them. The ground was already covered by the leaves and braches, which had fallen to its power. The streets were virtually empty. Few people dared to leave their homes in this storm.

Adam was very relieved when he finally saw the Angel Grove Youth Centre. Shaking as much water off himself as he could, the Green Zeo Ranger quickly opened and closed the door. Inside he sighed glad of the warmth, the storm now a just a dull roar behind him. After removing his dark green poncho, underneath which he had remained relatively dry, he glanced down at his feet and groaned. The ends of his jeans and his black tennis shoes were soaked. He took a step forward and felt the water in his socks squelch. He grimaced. Following a fresh trail of wet footprints, he joined Tanya, Kat, Rocky, Kim and Jason at their favourite table and collapsed into a chair.

Leaning forward, Rocky grinned at him. "Glad to be out of that rain?"

"I think I brought some of it with me," replied Adam looking down at his soaked shoes.

Jason glanced down at his own sodden feet that were only just starting to dry.

"I know what you mean."

"Can you believe this storm?" exclaimed Tanya. "Most businesses have closed."

"Yeah, we're lucky Ernie decided to keep the Youth Centre open," added Kat.

Ernie placed a hot drink in front of Adam. "My pleasure."

With a grateful sigh, Adam wrapped his frozen fingers around the warm mug. "Thanks, Ernie. We really appreciate it."

"No problem. But I must admit you'll most likely be my only customers today."

Rocky nodded. "Most people are smart enough not to go out in this weather."

Jason smirked. "And we're not?" Everyone laughed.

"I'll go get a mop to clean off this floor." Ernie headed for the back.

"Do you think the others are okay?" questioned Kim glancing at the door.

"I'm sure they're fine," assured Jason. "If they weren't, they'd have used their communicators to contact us."

"It's just Tommy's lateness rubbing off again," joked Rocky.

The rangers laughed, but during their ensuing conversation, they continued to glance towards the door for their friends and at the windows to keep track of the raging storm outside.

**ooooo**

Tommy's feet sunk into the muddy ground, as he pondered whether it had been wise to take his usual route to the Youth Centre. It was a beautiful part of Angel Grove Park, but already the wind had broken off many of the branches and had even knocked down a few of the trees.

"Being a ranger does not make you indestructible, Tommy," he told himself, but decided he could morph or teleport if something went seriously wrong.

The rain came pouring down from every direction, so even with his red raincoat he was soaked. He groaned as water seeped into his boots from a particularly deep puddle.

"Ranger!"

Tommy quickly looked around, the wind whipping long strands of wet hair into his face. He couldn't find the source of the sound, but he knew it meant trouble. Keeping his back to a tree, he continued to scrutinize the area while he carefully twisted his wrists. An inhuman laughter distorted by the wind came to his ears. _Definitely trouble,_ he thought to himself.

"It's morphing time!" he cried raising his arms into to position. "Zeo rang…" He stopped as cold, clawed hands grabbed his wrists tearing off his morpher.

**ooooo**

It was as Tanya was glancing at the door that Billy burst in, water pouring off his blue raincoat.

"I'd better get the mop out again," sighed Ernie heading once more into the back.

The rangers didn't notice, their eyes intent on the grave look on Billy's face.

"Billy, what's wrong?" asked Tanya.

Billy opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, the power went out leaving them in darkness. The rangers scrambled to their feet, knocking over chairs and mugs before their eyes adjusted to the dim light coming from the windows. A loud crash followed by a curse came from the back of the Youth Centre.

"Ernie, are you okay?" shouted Adam.

"I'm fine," replied Ernie as he came limping out. "I just tripped over something back there. You guys should head home. The storms getting worse and you don't want to be stuck here."

Kat put a hand on his shoulder. "Will you be alright?"

Smiling, Ernie reassuringly patted her hand. "I'll be fine. I've got plenty supplies here and I don't mind spending the night. Besides, I'd like to keep the Youth Centre open in case some poor soul gets trapped in the storm."

"Ernie's right." Billy pointedly looked into the eyes of all his friends. "I think we should leave."

The rangers nodded in understanding. They said goodbye to Ernie, but stopped just by the door.

"I'll call Tommy." Jason reached for his communicator.

Billy placed his hand over Jason's, stopping him. "It won't work."

"What?"

"That's what I came to tell you. The communicators aren't working. We can't even teleport."

"What's causing it?" asked Rocky.

"It's this storm," replied Billy. "It's creating some sort of electrical interference."

"Wait." Kimberly raised her hands. "How can a simple storm be causing this much interference?"

It was Jason who replied. "This isn't any ordinary storm."

Adam frowned. "How do you know?"

"I've lived in Angel Grove my whole life. There's never been anything even close to this."

"He's right," Billy agreed. "The readings from the atmospheric equipment in my lab are anything but normal."

"The Machine Empire." Rocky slammed his fist into his palm.

"Or Rita and Zedd," put in Tanya.

"Do you think something could have happened to Tommy and Andros?" questioned Kat.

"I don't know," replied Jason. "But we'd better go to Tommy's and make sure they're alright. Maybe if we're lucky, they've already figured out what's going on."

**ooooo**

Tommy twisted out of his raincoat then ducked and rolled out of the monster's reach. He got back up in time to see the monster throw away his morphers into a dense patch of trees. It was too dark to see where it went and Tommy didn't have time to look.

The monster was covered in black scales and had a grey cloak over his shoulders. He blended in with the background of the storm not seeming to mind the wind or pouring rain. He was big and heavily built but scarcely impressive to Tommy who had seen so many monsters before.

Tommy ducked as the monster swung his fist at him and tried to get a kick in. He was blocked, but he swiftly punched a vulnerable spot and backed off.

The Monster growled. "Ranger!"

_Not the most intelligent of monsters,_ thought Tommy. He changed his mind a moment later. Tommy was preparing to defend himself as the monster charged, but was surprised when instead of attacking him, the monster pushed him backwards. He felt his feet slip on the mud and suddenly the mud slipped out from beneath him. He fell finally landing with a splash into a large puddle. Luckily, though he was now covered in muck, he hadn't injured himself in the fall, but as he looked around, he found himself at the bottom of a deep pit. He heard evil laughter and looked up. A sudden flash of lightening illuminated the monster's silhouette against the dark sky, and then it was gone.

Tommy pressed his communicator trying to teleport out of there. Nothing happened. He tried to reach the Power Chamber, but heard only static. He was on his own.

**ooooo**

The drenched rangers arrived at Tommy's house without running into Tommy or Andros. They knocked on the door which was answered my Tommy's mother, Charlotte, flashlight in hand.

"Come in! Come in!" She opened the door wide then quickly shut it behind them. "What possessed you to go out on a day like this?"

"We're looking for Tommy and Andros," explained Jason pulling his hood back. "We were supposed to meet them at the Youth Centre this morning."

Mrs. Oliver frowned. "Tommy left to meet you over an hour ago."

The rangers shared a concerned glance.

"What about Andros?" asked Tanya.

"I'm right here." Andros came down from upstairs wrapped in some of Tommy's old clothes and seeming a bit pale in the dim light. "Tommy decided it was better that I didn't go out in the storm."

"Andros' just caught a bit of a cold." Charlotte gazed worriedly out of the window. "I don't know how Tommy could have missed you. I hope he didn't get lost in the storm."

"I'm sure he just took a different route to the Youth Centre," assured Kat. "He's probably waiting there for the storm to calm down."

"I'm sure you're right," Mrs. Oliver sighed. "Just my mothering instincts going on overtime again." She turned and smiled at her guests. "You're welcome to stay here till the storm passes."

"Thanks," replied Adam.

"There aren't many flashlights, but I've been placing candles around all the rooms so we'll have some light. Now, I must go. I have some work I need to do that not even this storm will get me out of. Feel free to help yourselves to anything you need."

After Tommy's mother left, the rangers settled themselves in the Oliver's family room. A large window on one wall gave them a clear view of the storm. The wind and rain pounded outside, the dulled roar a reminder of what was happening.

After they explained things to Andros, they got straight to the point.

"Something must have happened to Tommy," Kimberly insisted.

Kat bit her lip. "We have to find him."

"But what if it's a trap," questioned Tanya. "Without Zordon and the Power Chamber, we have no way of knowing what's out there."

"Right," agreed Rocky. "There could be tonnes of monsters out there just waiting for us."

A grim expression set on Jason's face. "We don't have a choice."

Adam spoke up. "What if we split up and search the area. That way we can get an idea for what's going on and look for Tommy."

Jason nodded. "Good idea." Hands on hips, he took command. "But no one's going out on their own. We stay in groups. Billy, will the morphers be at all affected by the storm's interference?"

"It shouldn't cause any problems."

"Ok, this is what we'll do. Adam and Tanya will search Angel Grove Park. Kat and Rocky will search around the neighbouring houses. Andros and I will check the warehouse district and downtown. Look for anything out of the ordinary, but don't confront any monsters. We'll meet back here in two hours. Then we'll either face it together or continue searching."

Billy was about to protest, but Kim beat him to it. "What about us? We want to help too."

"It's too dangerous," contended Adam.

"We won't be fighting."

"No," asserted Jason. "Something might go wrong. We can't risk it."

Andros who had remained quiet during the whole conversation suddenly sneezed. The others turned towards him.

"I don't think Andros should go," declared Billy.

Rocky frowned. "It's only a cold."

"To us, but Andros has never been exposed to Earth born diseases before. We can't be sure how his body will react. The fact that he has only just recovered from his recent injuries doesn't help either."

"I feel fine," Andros protested.

"But it's dangerous, you're system hasn't the antibodies to fight Earth diseases, right?"

"Yes, but…"

"He's right," interrupted Jason. "You will stay here. All of you." He glanced pointedly at Billy and Kimberly. The two shared a look but nodded in resignation.

"Alright. Let's move out."

**ooooo**

"Tommy!"

"Tommy!"

Knowing their eyesight wasn't at its best, Kat and Rocky shouted into the storm. They could only hope they'd be heard over its roar. They had been walking along the residential streets of Angel Grove for awhile and had yet to see any sign of their missing leader. Very few people were out. Those that were were rushing to get to shelter.

"Do you suppose he stopped off at one of our houses on the way?" asked Kat loudly.

"He might have," replied Rocky, also shouting to be heard. "We can call to see if he's there when we get back."

Passing a hand across her face, Kat wiped the rainwater out of her eyes. She was glad her hair was tied up or it would have been whipping her in the face. Rocky, of course, didn't have to worry about that problem, but his short raincoat left his jeans soaking wet.

A sudden splash and crash came from ahead of them. They ran forward hoping it was Tommy, but instead found Bulk and Skull sitting on their backsides on the wet pavement.

"What are you guys doing out here?" questioned Rocky as he and Kat helped them up.

"Detective Stone wants us to make sure the office isn't damaged in the storm," answered Bulk shaking the excess water off of him like a dog. Rocky and Kat hastily backed away. "What are you guys doing?"

"We're looking for Tommy. Have you seen him?" Katherine replied gazing at them hopefully.

Trying to remove the water from his ears, Skull smacked the side of his head. "Nah."

"Have you seen anything else? Anything unusual?" asked Rocky.

"We're the only ones crazy enough to come out in this storm."

Bulk grabbed Skull's arm and pulled him away. "Come on Skull. Let's get out of here."

The detectives headed off to their office slipping and sliding along the wet sidewalk while Kat and Rocky continued on with their fruitless search.

**ooooo**

"Why not?" shouted Kimberly.

Andros jumped at the sound. Sitting up, he rubbed his eye realizing he had fallen asleep on the couch. As he looked up, he found Kim and Billy facing each other in the middle of the room. Kim had been glaring at Billy, but she turned towards Andros and Billy followed her gaze. Suddenly, they both looked guilty.

"I'm so sorry, Andros," Kimberly apologized. "We didn't mean to wake you."

"Are you feeling okay?" asked Billy.

"Yeah. Actually, I feel a lot better. My nap must have helped cure me of that 'cold'"

"That's great."

Yawning, Andros rubbed his forehead. "What were you arguing about?"

"Kimberly thinks she can find Tommy," Billy explained with a tired sigh.

"How?"

Kim sat down next to Andros on the couch. "There's a special route we used to take from his house to the Youth Centre. He might have gone that way."

"In this weather?"

"I don't know, but something could have happened to him while on that route."

"And if he's fighting a monster he could be anywhere by now," contended Billy.

"I'm sorry I shouted at you, Billy." The former pink ranger turned to look out at the downpour. "I just hate not being able to help out."

"I understand, but if something happened to Tommy, something could just as easily happen to you too. And he's the one with a morpher."

Getting up, Kimberly gave Billy a hug. "Nothing is going to happen to me."

"Right," replied Billy as he laid his hands on her shoulders gazing down at her. "Because you're not going out there."

They stood eyes locked; then, Billy let go, his arms falling to his sides. Smiling, Kimberly turned away and left the room. A few minutes later, Andros and Billy heard the front door open and slam shut.

"You're letting her go?"

Sighing, Billy sat down. "There's nothing I can do or say to stop her. Besides, I understand how frustrating it is to be powerless when a friend is in trouble."

"Then why didn't you go with her?"

"Because I'm used to being left behind," Billy whispered his gaze distant. Turning towards the Red Astro Ranger, he put an arm around his shoulders. "Anyway, someone has to be here to look after you."

Andros simply groaned.

**ooooo**

"Tommy!" Tanya 's voice refracted through the trees as she shivered. This wasn't the type of weather she was used to. Adam put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She smiled back, until her foot sunk into another large pile of mud.

"Ugh!"

"Aren't you glad Kat lent you those boots?"

Laughing, Tanya extracted her foot from the clinging muck.

Suddenly, there was a flash and a loud bang leaving them temporarily blind and deaf. Their senses returned in time for them to see a tree, which had stood a few metres in front of them, crash onto the ground in flames. The two rangers jumped back.

As they held on to each other, Adam whispered, "I hope Tommy wasn't…"

"I'm sure he's alright."

As they watched, the flames on the tree died in the rain.

**ooooo**

Billy glanced unseeingly out the window. In his head, he went through the possibility that the storm, the interference of their communicators and the disappearance of Tommy could all be a coincidence, that none of their many enemies were involved. With a deep breath, he concluded that they couldn't be that lucky.

Turning away from the window, Billy found Andros playing with one of the kittens, the one he had named Karone. The calico kitten was intently watching the phone cord Andros had been dangling in front of her nose. Quickly, he pulled it away. Her tail twitched then she pounced. Flopping on to her side, Karone happily started chewing. Not wanting the telephone cord to be destroyed, Andros picked her up. The kitten let go of the cord, but having been driven slightly wild by the teasing was not in a mood to cuddle. She wriggled out of Andros' grasp and jumped onto the table on which the phone sat. Spying the cord, she attacked again. It was a small jump, but the mug half full of tea unfortunately sitting a little too close to the edge, was pushed off.

As the cup fell, Billy grimaced knowing the outcome considering neither he nor Andros could reach it in time, but when the mug was still several inches from the ground it stopped. It stopped and it started to go back up.

"What on Earth?" exclaimed Billy. He glanced over to see Andros, his eyes half shut, concentrating, two fingers pointed towards the mug as it resettled itself on the table.

"Amazing." Billy picked up the mug, carefully examining it before turning towards Andros. "You did that with your mind?"

Andros nodded.

"Telekinesis," whispered Billy. "I didn't think it was possible At least not for humans."

"It's relatively common on KO-35."

"But how? Are your people born with it?"

"We're taught it when we're very young," Andros sighed. He closed his eyes for a moment forcing back sad memories, but Billy's eyes were too full of questions to notice. Andros reached over and placed Karone on his lap. He slowly stroked her as he tried to answer all of Billy's questions.

**ooooo**

Tommy shivered. By now, the water was up to his knees and his feet sank into the mud below. A steady waterfall provided by the pouring rain fell over the sides of the hole. Up above, lightening flashed followed by a sudden roar. It gave Tommy a brief glimpse of his surroundings, but there wasn't anything to see except the dark mud.

He dug his fingers into the walls of earth feeling for something to hold onto. Sticking his right hand deep into the slick earth, he placed some weight on it before reaching above with his left hand. He was only off the ground a second before the wall crumbled. He fell back into the growing pool of water as mud rained down upon him.

Tommy brushed his wet, muddy hair from his face. He shivered again, violently. He scrambled to his feet and started walking around in a circle his arms wrapped tightly round himself. It was the only way he knew of to keep warm.

All of a sudden, he stopped and lifted his head. As unlikely as it seemed with the roaring of the wind, he thought he had heard something. It could be the rangers, but he didn't want to risk calling out. That might attract the monster's attention, if the monster was still around. The creature had either decided to leave him for dead or was setting up a trap for the other rangers. Neither idea sounded good to Tommy.

"Tommy…"

This time the Red Zeo Ranger was certain he had heard something and he gave up being cautious. He was desperate for help.

"Over here!"

A moment later, a small flash of pink appeared at the rim of the pit. He caught a glimpse of a beautiful, heart-shaped face framed by dark hair. He had never been more overjoyed to see her.

"Kimberly!"

"Are you alright?"

"At the moment."

The pink figure looked around before calling down again. "I have to get help! I'll be back. I promise."

"Be careful," Tommy shouted back, but she was already gone and he was alone again.

**ooooo**

Jason's gaze swept the whole district looking among the warehouses for Tommy, but he saw nothing. There was nothing unusual at all, not counting the damage caused by the storm.

"What a time for those damn monsters to break their habit of hanging around abandoned warehouses."

Jason was beyond frustrated. Once again, his best friend was missing and there was nothing he could do. This time being cut off from Zordon, he didn't even have a clue as to what was going on. Glancing at his watch he decided to go back. Hopefully one of the others had found some sign of Tommy.

He was greeted at Tommy's house by the cry of "She did what?" Entering, he found the other rangers gathered around Billy and Andros. He looked over everyone making sure they were all accounted for, a habit left over from when he was leader.

"Where's Kim?"

Billy looked away and Rocky answered for him. "She went to look for Tommy?"

"What?"

"She thought she might know which route he took to the Youth Centre," explained Billy.

"Damn," Jason cursed, angry and worried that another of his friends could be hurt. He was trying to figure out what to do next when the door opened.

"I've found him!" shouted Kimberly.

**ooooo**

The rangers, Kimberly, Billy and Andros included, set out marching towards Angel Grover Park through the storm, Jason and Kimberly in front. Having got rid of their bulky coats, ponchos and umbrellas, they were ready to fight. The rain had completely soaked them, but they no longer cared. They were going to rescue their friend.

As they reached the pit, Kimberly rushed forward and the others followed. Rocky, Adam, Tanya, and Katherine spread out forming a protective circle they're backs to the pit as they watched for any danger. Kimberly knelt at the edge. Jason held on to her shoulder making sure she wouldn't slip on the muddy ground and join Tommy in the hole. Andros and Billy stood on either side of them as they all looked down.

They spotted Tommy's mud soaked form leaning against one of the pit's crumbling walls a steady shower of water flowing over him. Tired from his escape attempts and continuous pacing though the mud, Tommy was finding it hard to even remain standing, but he had no choice. The water was up to his waist. If he sat down, he would either drown or freeze to death.

"Tommy!" shouted the Gold Ranger.

He looked up. "Jason?"

"Don't worry, bro. We'll get you out."

Tommy just nodded. There wasn't much else he could do.

"Jason!" shouted Adam. "We've got company."

Jason turned to see the Tempest monster approaching out of the chaos of the storm. He wiped the excess rain off his face and stepped forward, the other rangers gathered by his side.

"It's Morphin time!"

Following the Zeo calls, Jason heard "Let's Rocket" from beside him. He turned towards the recently morphed Red Astro Ranger.

"Andros, get Tommy out of there. We'll deal with the monster."

Andros nodded. As the Zeo Rangers charged the monster, Billy, Kimberly and Andros returned to the problem of rescuing Tommy.

"Come on." Billy uncoiled the rope they had brought with them, the only item they had managed to grab before they left. Throwing the rope down to Tommy, they found it was long enough to reach him, but not long enough for them to tie it around the nearest tree. Andros became the anchor, the power making his strength much greater than the others.

"Ready!" Kim shouted down to Tommy.

Andros felt the rope pull taut as Tommy started to climb. He dug his booted feet into the muddy ground. Billy and Kim stooped near the edge of the pit ready to help Tommy when he got close; however; as Tommy climbed he felt his muddy hands slipping. He was only a few feet off the ground when he completely lost his grip. With nothing to hold onto, he slammed into the water below. Walls of water were thrown up as his head was submerged in the mud.

Up above, Andros was thrown by the sudden lack of weight on the rope. His feet slipped in the mud. He landed on his back splattering the sludge everywhere.

Meanwhile, Kim and Billy staring desperately down into the pit were extremely glad to see Tommy come up spluttering and coughing. He stayed bent over trying to catch the breath that had been knocked out of him in the fall.

"Are you alright?"

Wiping the mud out his eyes, Tommy looked up. "I'm fine," he shouted before coughing up more of the muddy water. "But I won't be able to hold the rope."

Kim glanced down at the rope already soaked and covered with mud. She turned to Billy and Andros for ideas.

"If he tied the rope around himself, and Andros pulled him up by walking backwards, maybe…" started Billy.

Andros shook his head. "The ground here is pure sludge."

"And if you fell, you could easily be pulled in too," added Kimberly.

_Think,_ thought Billy to himself. _You're the smart one you should be able to figure out something as simple as getting someone out of a hole. If the teleporters were working, it'd be simple. We simply don't have the right equipment and not enough time to get it. If that monster gets past the rangers…The water's getting higher. Normally Tommy would be able to tread water till it was high enough for us to get him out, but he's already suffering from hypothermia. His arms would be useless by the time he had to swim. We need to find some way to lift him out…_ An image of a mug travelling by itself flew through his mind.

"Andros! Could you lift him out?"

Kim looked confused while Andros frowned

"Can you do it?" asked Billy again. "You're telekinesis might be the only thing that could work."

Underneath Andros' helmet, his face hardened.

"I'll try."

Andros stared down at Tommy. Billy couldn't see his face, but he knew Andros was concentrating hard. At first, nothing happened, but then there was a sudden cry from Tommy and Billy saw him beginning to rise from the water. Not understanding what was going on, Tommy began to struggle.

Billy fearing that the struggling would make Andros' job harder, called down, "Stay still! Andros is pulling you out."

Tommy was confused, but he trusted his friend so he stopped struggling. He came up painfully slow, the worse amount of the mud and water dripping off him. Billy and Kim knelt by the edge ready to grab him as soon as they could.

Tommy was a foot away from their hands when he stopped and started sliding down. He felt a surge of panic while Kim and Billy called encouragement to Andros.

"Come on, Andros!"

"Concentrate!"

Tommy began to ascend once again until Kimberly and Billy were able to grab hold of the mud covered wrists of his upward reaching arms.

"We've got you," declared Kimberly. Then gravity suddenly took hold as Andros' mind let go. The former blue and pink rangers almost let go with the sudden change of weight, but they had no intention of letting their friend fall back into that pit. They dug their feet and legs into the mud and heaved Tommy over the edge.

They all lay a moment on the muddy ground gathering their breath, but they soon forced themselves up. It was dangerous being idle when a monster remained undefeated.

"Thanks, guys." Tommy gave his friends quick soggy hugs.

Kimberly and Billy who were already soaked just smiled, grateful to have him back. Tommy glanced around for Andros wanting to thank him too and hoping for an explanation to what had just happened. He easily spotted the splash of red in the mud through the pouring rain. Instantly, he ran over to the side of the demorphed Astro Ranger and the others quickly followed. Andros was lying unconscious on the ground. Blood, watered down by the rain, was trailing down his face from his eyes, nose, ears and mouth.

"What happened?" demanded Tommy.

"It must have been too much." Billy shook his head. "He was using telekinesis to lift you out."

"Telekinesis?"

"It's common practice on his planet. I'm not sure how it's done, but I'm afraid it may have harmed him."

"We need to get him to the Power Chamber," insisted Kimberly.

"But…" A sudden explosion interrupted Billy. They turned to see the rangers had managed to destroy the Tempest monster. The wind instantly died down and the rain began to dry up as the dark clouds disappeared.

Jason, Katherine, Adam, Rocky and Tanya raced over to where their friends gathered. After surveying the scene, Jason didn't bother with explanations. He quickly contacted the Power Chamber. At Alpha's excited cry of 'Rangers', Jason nodded to the others and they teleported away.


	5. Family

**Family**

**Different Directions 5**

**By Daylight**

"Ai-yi-yi-yi! Rangers!"

The condition of the power rangers threatened to fry Alpha's circuits from shock. Never had the diminutive robot seen his friends in such a state. Adam, Rocky, Jason, Tanya and Kat were soaking wet. Drops from their clothes were creating a large puddle across the floor. They, however, weren't bad off when compared to the others. Kimberly and Billy's clothes were splattered thoroughly with mud stuck to all parts of their bodies. But this was nothing in comparison to Tommy. The Red Zeo Ranger looked like he had taken a bath in the sludge and was shivering uncontrollably. His long dark hair, weighed down by the muck, clung to his pale face.

Despite this, what worried Alpha the most was the unconscious Kerovian ranger held up between Billy and Adam. Andros was soaked too, with mud spotting his clothes, but his face was covered with streaks of blood that trailed down from his ears, eyes and nose down to his neck.

"Rangers, I am glad to see you," spoke Zordon as he surveyed the team. "Alpha and I were concerned when we lost contact."

"We'll explain everything later," Jason said taking command while Adam and Billy lifted Andros onto the medical bed. "Right now we need to get things dealt with. Tanya, Rocky, Kim, Kat, get changed into some dry clothes. Adam, Billy, get Andros cleaned up and taken care of, but make sure you get changed later. I don't want anyone getting sick. I'll take care of Tommy."

Turning to his best friend, Jason put a hand on his mud-encrusted shoulder. "I think it's time to hit the showers, bro." With a groan, Tommy let himself be led away still shivering. Rocky, Tanya, Kimberly and Kat hastily followed desperate to get warm and dry, leaving a trail of mud and water behind them.

Meanwhile, Adam grabbed several towels from one of the supply cabinets and started cleaning the blood off Andros' face. The blood, still wet, came away easily leaving Andros' pale skin clearly visible.

"I think the bleeding's stopped." Adam tossed the bloody towels away.

Billy nodded. "Let's get these clothes off him."

The two of them removed Andros' arms from the sleeves of his soaked sweater before gently pulling it over his head.

"What's that?" Adam's eyes had caught a glint of gold. After dumping the sweater in a corner, the green ranger took a hold of the necklace he had seen and rolled the locket over in his hands.

The former Blue Ranger glanced over from where he was checking the scanner results. "He was wearing that when he arrived. Just leave it."

"Right."

While Adam quickly rid the Red Space Ranger of the rest of his muddy clothes and wrapped him in warm blankets, Billy checked Andros' vital signs and tried to understand the bizarre readings he was getting. Alpha hovered near by hoping to be of aid.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Billy frowned. "Zordon can you make sense of this brain wave pattern?"

"What is the problem, Billy?" inquired the interdimensional being.

"There seems to be high levels of delta wave activity, but it's very erratic."

The lines on Zordon's forehead knitted together. "That usually indicates an over-exertion of the extrasensory parts of the brain."

"Is there any treatment for it."

"I'm afraid not. Such brain processes are not yet well understood. The brain waves should return to normal in time, but the over use of such parts of the brain has been known to lead to comas and occasionally permanent brain damage. What was Andros doing?"

"He was saving Tommy." Billy collapsed into the chair by the medical unit and rested his head in his hands. "Tommy was trapped. There was no other way to get him out. I knew of Andros' telekinetic ability, so I asked him. I didn't realize…"

"It's not your fault," consoled Adam putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Andros understood what you were asking. He knew the risks."

"Right. Right." Taking a deep breath, Billy shoved his feelings to the back of his mind. He didn't have time for them. He had to look after his patient. Standing up he went back to the scanner. "He's unconscious, but he hasn't slipped into a coma yet. What worries me more is the fever he's developing."

"Do you think it's from the cold he had earlier?"

"Possibly." Billy grimaced. "I just hope he hasn't developed something worse."

"How's the patient, Doc?" Adam and Billy turned to see Tanya and Kat entering from the Power Chamber's inner rooms. The two were now dressed in the clean clothes they kept on hand for such emergencies.

"I'm not a doctor, Tanya," Billy spoke quietly shaking his head.

Tanya grinned. "True, but if you spend any more time treating our injuries, you could easily become one."

"How is he?" asked Kat. She stood by the bed gazing over Andros' unconscious form.

Billy sighed. "Not great."

"Is there anything we can do?"

"Not right now. We just have to wait and see how things progress."

Kat nodded. Glancing over at her friends' still wet and forlorn forms, she said, "Why don't you two go get cleaned up. We'll keep an eye on Andros."

"Thanks." Adam shivered as he remembered how cold he was in his damp clothes. "Come on, Billy."

"You go ahead. I want to make certain Andros is stable."

Katherine shot Adam a concerned look. He just shook his head and left. Billy, too intent on his readings, didn't notice the exchange.

"Billy…" the Pink Zeo Ranger started to say, but she was interrupted by a sneeze. They all turned to see Tommy had arrived, Jason standing protectively behind him. Tommy was wrapped tightly in a warm blanket and sniffling.

"Looks like you've got another patient, Doctor Cranston."

"I'm fine," Tommy protested before sneezing again.

"Sure," replied Kat, Tanya and Jason in unison.

"It's just a cold. I'll be fine by tomorrow," continued the Red Zeo Ranger as Billy attempted to check him over with a handheld scanner.

"For once you might be right," commented Billy putting the devise down.

Shocked, Tommy forgot to sneeze as he processed the statement.

"But I'd still like you to stay overnight for observation."

The others laughed as Tommy groaned.

Jason gave him a slap on the back. "Don't worry, bro. We'll pull out a cot, so Billy can keep an eye on you while he's working."

"And Tanya and I will drop by your place and tell your Mom you'll be staying at Billy's."

"You just rest and get better," added Tanya with a smirk.

"Yes, mother," grumbled Tommy.

Alpha waddled over with a chair and insisted Tommy take a seat. "I have some tea that I'm sure will make you feel much better."

The Red Zeo Ranger shook his head. "Not you too."

"It's my job to look after you rangers."

"And we appreciate it immensely," assured Kat.

"Or at least most of us do," Tanya muttered ignoring the glare Tommy gave her.

"Billy, man, why are you still in those wet clothes? Get changed." Jason grabbed his friend's shoulders and started steering him away from the medical scans he had been poring over.

"But…" Billy said his eyes still lingering on Andros.

"No buts. Go! Don't make me force you." Jason gave his friend a sympathetic smile. "We'll watch Andros. Don't worry about it."

Slowly, Billy managed to make his way over to the door and left the room behind.

"Finally, someone who Billy will listen to! Now if you could just get him out of the Power Chamber itself."

Jason frowned, but didn't comment on Tanya's statement.

"We'd better go," interjected Kat. "Take care of yourself and look after Andros."

"I will. I promise," replied Tommy with a smile.

The girls waved as they disappeared.

Jason yawned. "I should go too. Make sure my house is still standing after that storm. Take care, bro. Oh, and one more thing, about what we were talking about earlier…"

Tommy rolled his eyes. "I know. I know! I'll talk to her."

Grinning, Jason lifted his communicator and teleported himself away.

"Looks like we're stuck here for awhile, Andros," Tommy said to the unconscious Kerovian. Checking him over, Tommy placed a hand on Andros' forehead and frowned at the heat he felt emanating from the skin. "Keep fighting, my friend. You've been through too much to give in now."

**ooooo**

"If you girls are looking for Tommy, I'm afraid he's not here," proclaimed Charlotte Oliver upon opening her door. "We haven't heard from him since he left this morning."

"Actually, Mrs. Oliver," replied Kat. "We came by to tell you that Tommy's at Billy's."

"He stopped there to get out of the storm and now he's planning to stay overnight while he helps Billy on one of his project," Tanya added.

"Well, I would have preferred that he called himself, but this is better than a kick in the pants. Don't worry, dears, I'm very grateful you came out of your way to tell me. I just wish this wayward son of mine would stop disappearing." Charlotte sighed, but continued to smile at them. "Anyway, what's this project? Is it…?"

Charlotte was interrupted by a streak of black fur that raced past her and out the door. The kitten would have easily made it out onto the street if it hadn't been for Kat's quick reflexes. Katherine held the cat up so she and it were nose to nose. "Well, if it isn't Ninja."

"These kittens!" Charlotte exclaimed in exasperation. "They're all over the place. It was very noble of Andros to rescue them, but there's no way we can look after them all. I'm afraid we'll have to take them down to the shelter."

"Oh, no," cried Kat stroking Ninja as she cradled him in her arms.

"Now, I know the shelter's not the best place for them, but it'll only be till they find homes for them."

"But the shelter's very full at this time of year, they might have to…"

"We'll take one," Tanya suddenly put in.

"Right," agreed Kat. "I'm sure my parents would love to have a cat around the house. And I'm sure if we looked hard enough we could find homes for the rest."

"If you want to help, go ahead. I'm sure the kittens will appreciate it. You can come round tomorrow to pick one for yourselves if you'd like. Right now, I have to get dinner ready. Thanks again for the message from Tommy. Goodnight, girls."

After Kat had handed over the black kitten and Charlotte had shut the door, the pink and yellow rangers turned to look at each other.

"It's a good thing it's spring break," declared Tanya. "Because tomorrow's going to be a long day."

**ooooo**

The stars, covering the night sky, also shone across the Power Chamber's viewscreen. The former Blue Power Ranger sat gazing at them lost in his own thoughts. Around him, the lights had been dimmed leaving little but the glow of the various technical instruments. Alpha stood in a corner looking eerily dead as he recharged. Zordon's tube was empty. Asleep, presumed Billy but he was never truly sure with the interdimensional being. Tommy was asleep. He lay on a cot, covered in blankets. The Power Chamber's cots were anything but comfortable but necessary for the few overnight missions required by the rangers. Andros still lay on the medical bed, unconscious. The hum of machinery and Tommy's light snoring were the only sounds until a low moan broke the silence.

Billy looked up quickly glancing over his charges. Both of them appeared still until another moan and a twitch from Andros indicated the source of the noise. Hoping that the Red Space Ranger was finally waking up, Billy moved over to where he lay. A blanket covered Andros up to his armpits. Underneath, he wore a pair of Adam's shorts and one of Tommy's red tank tops. Cables connected to Andros' arms recorded his vital signs and delivered fluids. Andros' locket shone clearly around his neck and sweat glistened on his forehead. Billy silently cursed as he realized Andros' fever had gone up even more. Sorting through the various medications available, he grabbed one he knew would help reduce the fever and filled a syringe shooting the contents into Andros' bare arm.

Billy had just put the medicine away when Andros groaned again. This time he also began to toss and turn though his eyes remained closed.

"Andros?"

The Kerovian ranger continued to thrash about his moans growing louder until they became cries.

"Karone… No, please come back! Karone!!"

"Andros. Andros, calm down." Billy held on to Andros' arms trying to keep him still. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like Andros wanted to calm down.

"Karone!"

The noise soon woke Tommy who quickly joined Billy.

"It's alright, Andros. You're safe." Tommy put a calming hand on Andros' hot forehead continuing to offer soothing words. Slowly, Andros began to relax.

Billy sighed in relief. "You're good at that."

"I've had a lot of practice recently."

The former Blue Ranger frowned. "Does he still have nightmares every night?"

Tommy rubbed his forehead. "Almost every night, as far as I can tell. It's a good thing we share a room. I wouldn't want to try and explain this to my parents."

"Do you know whom he's calling for," Billy asked as he rechecked Andros' vital signs.

"No clue. He often cries for someone called Zhane, but he calls out several other names too and I don't recognize any of them." Tommy ran a hand through his long hair. "Probably the former space rangers, but he hasn't talked to me about them. I guess he still needs more time."

Suddenly, Billy broke into a large yawn.

"I don't suppose you've gotten any sleep."

Billy shook his head as he yawned again.

"Go. Get some sleep. I'll watch over him."

"No. You're still recovering."

"I'm fine." Tommy spread out his arms. "See no sneezes. The power has already cured me."

"But…" Billy hesitated.

"It's not your fault."

Billy looked up in surprise. "What?"

Shaking his head, Tommy smirked at the former Blue Ranger. "Come on, man. You think I can't recognize when someone is blaming themselves. I've done it often enough to myself."

"I know. I just…"

Tommy placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You're not responsible for everything. I thought you'd have remembered that after all the times you've given the same speech to me."

Letting out a small smile, Billy nodded. "Right."

Giving Billy a friendly pat on his back, Tommy grinned. "Keep blaming yourself and working yourself to the bone, and soon you'll become a worn-down, overly guilt-ridden leader like Jason and me."

"Me? A leader?" Billy raised his eyebrows. "Highly amusing."

"I always thought you'd be a great leader."

"Really? I guess somewhere in the back of my mind, I still think of myself as that useless nerd I was when I first became a power ranger."

"You never were, Billy. You never were. Now get some sleep."

Billy started heading towards the cot, but Tommy stopped him. "I meant in a real bed."

"You're sure? But what if Andros…"

"I'll call. You'll only be a short teleport away."

"Fine. Fine," gave in Billy as he yawned once more. "Call me if his fever goes up again. It shouldn't since I just gave him some medication to keep it down, but watch it."

"I know, Doc. I know. Now go."

Billy gave Andros one last look, before touching his communicator and disappearing in a glimmer of white light.

When he was gone, Tommy settled down into the chair Billy had recently vacated and resting his feet on one of the consoles, looked up, gazing through the viewscreen at the stars.

**ooooo**

When Adam opened his door the next morning, he found Kat, Tanya and a black fluffball, all staring at him.

"Good Morning?"

"Adam!" Tanya leapt forward and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. The Green Ranger was startled, but didn't protest. "We missed you."

"Since last night?" he said with a disbelieving expression.

"Of course."

Adam crossed his arms. "Alright. What are you two up to?"

Kat and Tanya gave each other a quick glance before turning back to Adam. "Whatever are you talking about?" asked Kat.

Adam raised an eyebrow.

"We came to see you," insisted Tanya.

Adam remained silent.

"And…." Tanya trailed off looking at Kat.

"And," Kat continued, "we brought you a gift." Katherine hastily handed over the black kitten. "You remember Ninja, don't you?"

Adam tried to keep a hold of the animal, but it quickly squirmed away and swiftly climbed up his shirt. It stood on his shoulder digging it's claws in to keep itself anchored causing Adam to wince.

"Um…." he tried to say while attempting to keep an eye on the kitten. " Um…"

"Mrs. Oliver couldn't keep the kittens and we didn't want them to go to the shelter, so we decided to find homes for them," Tanya explained quickly.

"But…but…"

"And we remembered how much you loved Ninja and how much Ninja loved you, so…" Kat added.

"But…but…"

"Please, Adam," begged Tanya.

Adam sighed realizing it was impossible to fight both of them. "Fine."

The girls grinned and Kat clapped her hands.

"I suppose it could be nice to have a cat around." He finally managed to prise Ninja off his shoulder and held it in his arms while it purred loudly. "So what about the others."

"Well," said Kat. "We're keeping Bulk, the orange and white one, and Mrs. Oliver is going to keep Karone, the calico, for Andros, so we just have to find homes for the other two."

"Good luck." The kitten started squirming again and Adam resigned himself to the inevitable as it once again attached itself to his shoulder. "Have you heard anything from the Power Chamber this morning?"

"Just before we came here," replied Tanya. "Tommy says they had a rough night. Andros' fever is high and he hasn't woken up yet, but Tommy managed to get Billy to bed."

"Good for, Tom. Billy would've stayed up all night if we'd let him." Adam started absently stroking the cat on his shoulder. "I hope Andros gets better soon. Poor kid could use a break."

**ooooo**

"You know something, Andros." Tommy glanced down at the pale form lying motionless on the bed. "For a Power Ranger, I sure don't feel very brave right now."

The only reply from the Red Space Ranger was the light beep of the medical scanner as it measured his heartbeat.

"I can face Rita and Zedd, the Machine Empire and any of the monsters they throw at us, but I can't face..." Taking a deep breath, Tommy shook his head. "Sorry. I shouldn't be troubling you with this. Especially considering… My problems probably seem silly in comparison to all you've been through."

The sudden sound of a teleport caused Tommy to jump. Turning around he came face to face with the person he most dreaded seeing. She stood there her arms crossed over her pink blouse her feet shuffling nervously.

"Kimberly."

"What sort of greeting is that? No 'Hi, Kim. How are you?' or 'Kim, it's great to see you'?"

A small smile appeared on Tommy's face as he recalled how she always became flippant when nervous. "Hi, Kim. How are you?" he said obediently.

"That's better." The former Pink Ranger surreptitiously moved towards him gazing around to avoid eye contact. "We need to talk."

"I know." Tommy looked at the ground.

Neither said a word.

But Kim couldn't stand the silence for long. "Say something!"

The red ranger looked her in the eyes and asked one simple question, "Why?"

Glancing at Zordon's tube, Kimberly was glad for once that neither he nor Alpha was in the Power Chamber. "Why what? Why I broke up with you? Why I sent that letter?"

"Yes! I just… Did…did…" Tommy stuttered to a stop. Taking a deep breath, he asked "Are you at least happy with him?"

Kimberly absently tucked a lock of hair behind her ear still refusing to meet his eyes. "I broke up with him a couple of months after I sent you the letter."

"What!"

"I just couldn't stand the guy anymore."

Tommy closed his eyes leaning heavily on the chair. "I thought you left me because you had found someone who you truly cared about…" Looking up he leveled his finger at her. "But instead you tell me it was some guy you dumped after a couple of months!"

"I was lonely! Besides I'm sure you were going out with Kat the week after I left!" accused Kim waving her arms at him in anger.

"How could you think I would be so shallow?!"

"Why not? I was!!"

A leaden silence hit the room. Both breathed heavily as they glared at each other.

Finally, Kimberly closed her eyes and whispered "I'm sorry, Tommy."

Tommy just shook his head turning away unable to look at her. "I need some time to think. I have to…"

Kim nodded. "Go. I'll take care of Andros." She watched Tommy stumble away his head still reeling from what he had learned as he teleported. Sitting on the chair, Kim slumped forward and put her head in her hands. "What have I done?"

Someone grabbed her wrist.

"Karone?"

Kimberly jumped turning to see Andros sitting up and looking at her his eyes bright with fever. He squeezed her wrist with an imploring gaze.

"Karone, I'm sorry. I was supposed to look after you, but I let it take you away."

"Whoa! Calm down, Andros. It's me, Kim. There's no Karone here."

"It took you away and I couldn't stop it. I couldn't stop it!"

"It's alright, Andros. Go back to sleep." Kim loosened the weak grip on her arm and gently pushed Andros back down. The last Kerovian ranger closed his eyes still mumbling apologies until he once more drifted into unconsciousness.

"Are you alright, Kimberly?"

The former Pink Ranger jumped once more, turning around to see Alpha watching her. "I'm fine. I was just startled. Is he going to be okay?" she asked as Alpha ran some checks over the medical equipment.

"His fever has stopped rising, but it would be best if it broke soon. His body can't take much more."

Kimberly nodded taking a hold of Andros' hand. "Poor guy. He's been through so much."

Alpha wandered away leaving Kimberly alone with Andros.

**ooooo**

Squinting in the morning sun, Jason' eyes finally made out the forms of Tanya and Katherine standing on the front step of his house. He yawned wondering why it had taken the knock at the door to finally wake him up that morning. It seemed as if he was sleeping in a lot more these days. Maybe he just needed more time to get accustomed to being back in the power ranger game.

"Good morning, Jason," announced Kat cheerily.

"Good morning," he replied with another yawn.

"Late night?" asked Tanya. "Sorry, we didn't mean to wake you."

Jason waved off the apology. "Don't worry about it. I meant to get up ages ago. I must have slept through my alarm. So why are you girls here this morning?"

"Cats," declared Kat with determination.

"Cats?" Jason shook his head. His brain wasn't quite awake and didn't appear to be processing things very well yet.

"Exactly."

Sighing, Jason waited for an explanation.

Kat glanced at Tanya before taking a deep breath. "You remember the kittens Andros found? Well, Tommy's mother said she can't keep them and since we didn't want them to go to the shelter, we've been trying to find homes for them. And we were hoping that you'd…"

"That I'd take one in," Jason completed, as he finally understood. "Kat?"

"Yes?"

"Remember my dog, Bruno."

"Yes."

"And how he chased that cat up that really tall tree causing us to spend over two hours trying to get it down only for him to chase it up an even taller one as soon as we succeeded."

"Yes."

"Well, he hasn't gotten any better."

Kat's shoulders slumped. "It was worth a shot." Tanya patted her on the arm in sympathy.

Jason grinned. "Nice try. Now, I'd better get along and check on Tommy. I'll catch you later."

"Bye, Jason."

Turning towards Kat as Jason shut the door, Tanya shrugged. "Still about a hundred more people to go."

Kat let out a quiet groan.

**ooooo**

The first thing that caught Jason's attention when he transported into the Power Chamber was Kimberly. The former Pink Ranger sat on a chair by the medical bed her feet resting on the seat her arms wrapped around her knees. Her head was titled to the side as she stared off into space. She didn't even noticed when he appeared.

"Kim?"

Startled, Kim unfolded herself and looked around. "Yes?"

Jason came over and rested a hand on her shoulder. "What are you doing here?"

"Just keeping an eye on our sick friend," Kim replied nodding towards Andros.

"Wasn't that Billy's job?"

"Tommy's technically. He sent Billy to bed."

"So why are you doing it?"

Kim just shrugged her eyes remaining on the medical unit.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done to Kim?"

The corners' of Kim's mouth twitched.

Jason kneeled on the ground so he was at the height of his seated friend. "Talk to me Kim. What happened?"

Sighing, Kim turned to Jason and gave him a weak smile. "I talked to Tommy."

"And…"

Kimberly looked away again. "He didn't like what I told him. He said he needed time to think so… I let him go."

Jason nodded in understanding. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders to get her attention. "Alright. Now how long ago was that?"

"A couple of hours," replied Kim frowning.

"Well…" continued Jason. "He's had time to think, hasn't he?"

"I guess…" Kim shrugged and looked at the floor.

Jason was very tempted to roll his eyes. "So go after him."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

Wrapping her arms around him, Kim smiled. "Thanks, Jason."

"No problem," Jason replied hugging her back. "Now get going."

"Right." Kimberly stood up preparing to teleport, but hesitated. "You'll watch Andros?"

"Of course."

"Watch his temperature. It was going down, but we should still be careful. Oh, and he woke up before, but he was a bit out of it so he might not recognize you if he wakes up again and…"

"Go."

Kim glanced down at her old communicator kept on her wrist out of habit. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the button that would send her back down to Angel Grove. She disappeared in a flash of white light.

Going over to the medical unit, Jason checked on the equipment attached to Andros. Then, when he had seen all was in order, he gave Andros a light pat on the shoulder and sank into the seat Kimberly had recently vacated. Catching sight of the old white and pink power suits mounted on the back wall, he shook his head. "Those two…"

**ooooo**

Panting, Rocky opened the front door glad to have caught it before any of his siblings. Outside stood Tanya and Kat smiling at him. He smiled back, but his grin faltered as he noticed something suspicious in their large beaming faces.

"Um…Hello?"

"Rocky," cried the girls each latching on to one of his arms still grinning.

"So…how are my favorite girls today?"

"Rocky, could you do us a big favor?" pleaded Kat.

"Please, Rocky," insisted Tanya starring at him with puppy-dog eyes.

Rocky's head whipped back and forth looking at each of them in turn. "Well…ah…you know I'd do anything I could for you two."

"We were hopping you'd say that," declared Tanya her grin getting even larger.

Feeling nervous, Rocky started looking for a way out, but the Pink and Yellow Zeo Rangers held tightly to his arms.

Kat, ignoring his edginess, finally got to the point of their conversation. "So you'll be happy to take in one of the kittens Andros found."

"What?" exclaimed the Blue Zeo Ranger.

"The kittens need homes and you did say…"

"Wait." Rocky finally managed to get his arms out of the girls' strong grips. "A kitten?"

Both Kat and Tanya nodded vigorously.

"You know I'd love to, but…" Rocky continued ignoring the pouts that appeared on their faces. "My brother, John, is allergic."

The girls hung their heads.

"There's nothing I can do," insisted Rocky.

Kat sighed. "I suppose the kittens will survive, trapped in those small dark cages."

"All alone," added Tanya.

"I'm sorry?"

With a sniff the girls turned and left leaving Rocky confused, but glad to have escaped their clutches.

**ooooo**

At the sound of the teleport, Jason's head snapped up and realized to his surprise that he had fallen asleep. He gave a quick glance to Andros before turning to the new occupant of the room.

"Hey, Adam," he greeted rubbing his eyes.

"Jase." Adam frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"Same as you. Just came up to check on Andros and Tommy."

Adam nodded. "So where's everyone else?"

"Billy's at home asleep," replied Jason sitting up and stretching his stiff back. "And Tommy is with Kim finally having that conversation they've been avoiding."

"About time. I thought they'd never…"

Adam was interrupted by the sound of another transport. This time it was Billy. The former Blue Ranger hurried over to Andros' side without even glancing at the other occupants of the room.

Jason and Adam exchanged a look. "Good morning, Billy," said Jason pointedly.

Billy didn't look up from where he was going over the medical equipment. "It's past noon. Why didn't somebody wake me?"

"We thought you could use the sleep?" replied Adam with a shrug.

"What if something had happened to Andros?" Billy finally looked up just long enough to give them a glare before he went back to checking on the Red Space Ranger.

"Then we would have called." Jason moved over to stand next to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We've kept an eye on him and made sure he had everything he needs. We're not idiots."

Leaning against the medical console, Billy bowed his head. "I know. I'm sorry. I was just worried."

Adam smiled. "It's alright, man. We understand."

"Yeah," agreed Jason giving Billy's shoulder a reassuring pat.

"So, how's our patient doing?"

"Kim said he woke up for a short while earlier, but he was completely out of it."

"Not surprising with his temperature this high, but at least he woke up. Thanks for the help guys. I can take it from here."

Jason scowled. He opened his mouth to say something, but Adam beat him to it. "Actually, I have a better idea. Why don't I look after Andros while Jason takes you down to the Youth Centre? I'm sure Jason could use the break and I have no doubt you didn't bother with breakfast on your way here this morning."

"Good idea. Up for one of Ernie's specials, Billy?" Jason inquired with a grin.

"Sounds great, but I really need to go over these readings. I want to make sure Andros' brainwaves are returning to normal."

"You can do that later. Right now you need to get out of here and get something to eat."

"Yeah," Adam agreed. "It'll help clear your head."

"Nice, try guys, but I'm staying here. This is much too important."

"I would recommend listening to your friends."

They all jumped in surprise. Turning towards the glowing tube, they found Zordon had returned and had been listening.

"But Zordon…"

"The scanners indicate that Andros' life is not in immediate danger and your analysis will be far superior with your mind and body refreshed."

Billy sighed unwilling to say no to his mentor. Jason patted him on the back. "Come on, man. Breakfast is on me." The two quickly teleported away.

Shaking his head, Adam looked up to say something to Zordon, but found the interdimensional being had already disappeared. The Green Zeo Ranger frowned his brow furrowing. Zordon seemed to be absent a lot recently. With a shrug, he sat down on the seat at Andros' bedside. Glancing at the sick ranger, he once more caught sight of the locket around Andros' neck.

"Mysteries upon mysteries."

**ooooo**

The sun shone brightly on the trees of Angel Grove Park. No clouds marred the blue sky. The only signs of the previous days' storm were the fallen branches littering the ground and a few remaining puddles. Kimberly Ann Hart wandered along the edge of the lake knowing that when Tommy went to think this was where he'd be.

Sure enough, she spotted the Red Zeo Ranger leaning against the trunk of a large willow tree. Her steps began to hesitate as she got nearer, not quite sure how to approach him. Her walk hadn't taken anywhere near enough time for her to come up with what to say.

Tommy finally caught sight of her but upon seeing whom it was, fixed his eyes back on the horizon. Sighing, Kim sat down beside him her gaze matching his as she watched the reflection of the sun on the water. After a few moments, Tommy glanced at her again before looking away. Then taking a deep breath, he spoke. "Why did you have to come back, Kim?"

She shrugged. "I needed a break."

Tommy looked at her disbelieving. "So you hopped a flight all the way from Florida to Angel Grove without telling anyone?"

Kimberly pulled her legs up to her chest resting her chin on her knees. "I missed you guys, all of you."

"And you came despite the fact you knew you would have to face me."

Bowing her head, Kim closed her eyes. "I know what I did was wrong. I was going to have to face it eventually. I thought the sooner the better."

"Did you even consider how I would feel?"

Looking up, Kim glared at him. "Of course, I did. Why do you think I haven't come home before now? I was hoping that maybe by now you'd have…you'd have…"

"Forgiven you?" Tommy snorted and shook his head. "I don't know if I can. Not after what you told me." He sighed and dared to ask the question that had plagued him for many nights. "Did you ever truly love me?"

She blinked and simply replied "With all my heart."

"And now?"

Kim shook her head. "I don't know. I just don't know." She turned to him her eyes pleading. "What about you?"

A breeze brushed by his face as Tommy gazed ahead at the shimmering lake. "No. Not that way. Not anymore."

The former pink ranger closed her eyes and placed her face in her hands. "I'm sorry, Tommy."

Placing an arm around her, Tommy pulled her towards him. "Me too, Beautiful. Me too."

The light breeze that waved the branches above them also gently lifted the blond trails of Kat's hair as she caught sight of the pair from a distance. She paused in her walk across the park as her brain processed what she was seeing. Tanya noticing her change in mood traced her gaze and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Kat."

"What?" Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Katherine sighed, "It's alright. Don't worry about it. Tommy and I… We never really found out if there was anything between us. Kim was in his heart for so long and now that she's back… I guess we won't have the chance to find out."

Tanya put a comforting arm around her friend's shoulders leading her away from the couple under the tree continuing their walk across the park. "But you do care a lot for him, don't you?"

Katherine nodded

"You'll be alright. And maybe they aren't together. Maybe they're just friends. Plenty of fish still in the sea, either way."

Smiling, the Pink Zeo Ranger nodded. "Right. And I have the rest of my life to find which is the right one for me."

"Speak for yourself," joked Tanya. "Life is short. I intend to pick up my man the moment I see him."

Kat rolled her eyes. "Then why haven't you asked Adam out yet?"

"Hey!" Tanya gave her best friend a light smack on the arm.

"Well?"

"Just waiting for the right moment. Besides I doubt he thinks of me as anything more than a friend and I don't want to risk ruining that friendship."

"You'll never find out if you don't ask."

"Look who's talking!" Tanya sighed. "We're both hopeless."

Kat nodded. "Completely."

The two girls smiled at each other as they made their way out of the park.

**ooooo**

Adam's feet rested on top of the scanner console as he twiddled his thumbs. Leaning his head back, he exhaled nosily. He wished desperately for something constructive to do while he waited. If he had realized he was going to be there for so long, he would have brought a book. He could have teleported down to get one, but he didn't want to leave Andros alone and both Zordon and Alpha had mysteriously disappeared. This, of course, also left him with no one to talk to.

A teleport behind him announced the end to his boredom.

"Hey, man. Since when do you pull nursing duty?"

Adam smiled at his best friend. "I'm just filling in for Jason who was filling in for Kimberly who was filling in for Tommy who was filling in for Billy."

Rocky pulled up a chair next to Adam. "I'll just pretend to understand that."

"Sounds good."

"So how's he doing?" Rocky asked indicating towards Andros whose pale face was still flushed with fever.

"Resting peacefully for now. Heard he had a bit of a rough night, but his fever's starting to go down so he should be alright soon."

"Great. What have you been up to?"

"Besides sitting here twiddling my thumbs? I spent the morning helping my Mum fix all the damage the storm did to her garden. It was a real mess."

Rocky raised an eyebrow. "I can imagine. Speaking of messes, are we going back to work on the Megaship tomorrow?"

"Most likely."

"Hell of a way to spend spring break. Not that we could have done much else."

Adam frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's not like we could have gone anywhere what with us being on 24 hour call."

"I guess not. It's hard to go on vacation when the Machine Empire is just waiting to spoil it for you." Adam sat up. "Do you ever regret becoming a ranger?"

"Never. But I've being wondering about the future. If we defeat the Machine Empire, what happens then? Does another bad guy show up? I mean, when does it end?"

Adam shrugged. "Who knows?"

"Exactly. And maybe it's getting near the time when we should be stepping down."

"You think so?"

"We're graduating in June. After that we're suppose to get on with our own lives. You know I'm planning to open that dojo."

"You've been dreaming about it since we were kids."

"Right. And the time is coming when I'd like to realize that dream. Life's short. Who knows when we might kick the proverbial bucket?" Rocky leaned forward. "Not even rangers are immortal."

"I know what you mean," replied Adam glancing at Andros.

"I'm just not sure how I'm going to run a dojo if I'm dashing off to save the universe every few minutes." Rocky tilted back in his chair. "So what are you going to do after graduation?"

"College, I guess. At least that's what I've always planned on."

"You know, you could always join me at the dojo. I could use the help and it would be a great way to earn money for college."

"Really?"

"Of course, buddy." Rocky slapped Adam on the back. "Who else would I want to work with?"

Adam smiled at his friend. "Thanks man."

"It's going to be so weird not going to school anymore, but we're sure going to go out with a bang of a party."

"I know. You've been planning it since September."

"Right. Ernie's given us the Youth Centre for the evening. They'll be live music, tons of food..."

"Food, of course." Suddenly, Adam got a wicked grin. "And Aisha will be there."

"Yeah," sighed Rocky. Adam just shook his head at him. Rocky caught the look he was giving him and shot back, "Maybe by then you'll have worked up the courage to ask Tanya out to the party."

"Hey!"

Rocky laughed, Adam soon joining him.

**ooooo**

"Cheers."

Jason and Billy raised their drinks to each other as they soaked in the atmosphere of the Angel Grove Youth Centre from their favorite table.

"Almost like old times," commented Jason before taking a sip of his smoothie.

"Yeah," agreed Billy. "Just missing a few familiar faces."

Jason placed his drink down before leaning forward on the table.

"You miss them?"

"Immensely. But I'm glad they're enjoying themselves."

"They are. Trini and Zack found a place where they could really make a difference. That's why they stayed after the Peace Conference was over."

"What about you?"

The former red ranger shrugged. "I guess something just called me home."

"And we're very lucky it did."

"True." Jason raised his glass again and took a drink. He let out a long breath as he placed it back down. "You remember when we first met."

"Most definitely."

"Back then you were a different person. Kimberly and Trini were always dragging you around with us trying to get you to join in, but often you'd just withdraw and hide in your garage with your inventions." Leaning forward, he leveled his finger at Billy. "But you changed. Being a power ranger helped you gain confidence. You stopped hiding and became part of the world." While keeping an eye on his friend, Jason tilted back in his chair and crossed his arms. "What I want to know is why you started hiding again?"

Shrugging, Billy looked away. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Come on, Billy. Don't kid me. You spend more time in the Power Chamber than with your friends. It's been that way ever since you gave up your powers and it's only getting worse."

Billy remained silent.

"Listen, man. I know it's tough when you're no longer part of the team, but that's no excuse for ignoring your friends."

"I'm sorry." Billy ran a hand through his short hair. "I just… I don't know who I am anymore."

"Now that you're not a ranger?"

"Exactly." The former ranger took a drink and looked away as he continued to speak. "Since then, I no longer feel like I belong."

Jason leaned forward. "You know you're still our friend, no matter what."

"But I'm not a ranger." He twirled his glass around in his fingers. "I thought I would be more help to the rangers if I stayed behind in the Power Chamber. Instead, I find myself watching helplessly while you face the danger."

"You do a lot for us. I don't know where we'd be without your help."

"But I can't be there when you really need me!" Clutching his drink, Billy glared at it as if it was the cause of his frustration.

"Is this why you've been spending so much time on Aquitar and Triforia?"

"I guess I've just been trying to find my place in the universe."

"I know how you feel," replied Jason. "But have patients. It's not like you're going to discover your destiny overnight. You still have plenty of time. And right now, you should just be enjoying the place you're at."

"When did you get so wise?" asked Billy smiling at his friend.

Jason smirked back. "Since you forced me to by being the dunce for once."

The former blue ranger laughed.

"Mind if we join you?"

The guys looked up to see Tommy and Kimberly had arrived at their table.

Jason waved his hand to the empty chairs. "Have a seat."

The Gold Ranger closely observed their newly arrived friends. They seem subdued but Kim gave him a small smile to indicate everything was okay. The four quickly fell into conversation discussing things from school assignments and graduation to the damage left by the storm and the recent activities of the Machine Empire.

They were busy wondering why there hadn't been the usual racket from Gasket since Andros had arrived when Kat and Tanya strolled into the room. For some reason, the two walked right past their friends and headed towards Ernie.

"Ernie," called Kat. "We've got the perfect gift for you."

"What have you got guys?" Ernie asked smiling at the two of them while he busily mixed a shake for one of his customers.

"Two beautiful kittens," declared Tanya. "Just right to keep you company on your lonely nights at home."

Ernie handed away the drink before turning to them. "You know I'd love to help out, but I'm much too busy these days to look after a cat. I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Ernie," Kat sighed. "We understand."

The two girls dejectedly went over to their friends and sat down at the table.

"No luck?" asked Jason with a sympathetic smile.

"Not since we gave Ninja to Adam this morning," replied Tanya leaning her elbows on the table.

"I just don't understand why no one wants them."

Kim gently laid a hand on Kat's arm. "You know I'd take one in if I could."

"I would too if my landlord allowed pets," put in Billy.

Katherine nodded, but still felt gloomy.

Tommy leaned over and put an arm around her. "Hey, now. Don't give up. I know you can do anything once you put your mind to it."

"Thanks, Tommy."

"I wish there was somewhere…" Tanya trailed off. Suddenly, a smile spread across her face and a gleam began to shine in her eye. "I've got it!" Grabbing Kat, Tanya hurriedly dragged her away from the table and out the door.

The remaining teenagers looked at each other.

"This I have to see," exclaimed Jason.

They trooped out of the Youth Centre quickly following the two girls.

**ooooo**

The four-way conversation between Adam, Rocky, Zordon and Alpha was interrupted as the familiar sound of a transport was heard by all. When all four of the remaining rangers plus Kimberly and Billy appeared, they weren't too surprised. It was the objects held by both Tanya and Kat that had them completely perplexed.

"Rangers?" questioned Zordon.

Approaching their mentor, Katherine and Tanya each held out a cat, one white, one black and white, and placed them in front of him "Zordon, we have a favor to ask you," spoke Kat.

Zordon raised an eyebrow. He was used to the odd quirks of these earth rangers, but they had never done anything that quite resembled this.

"Now we know you can't really look after these kittens, but they'll be happier here than at the shelter and we would all gladly help look after them." While Kat talked, the kittens began to wander across the consoles exploring all the strange sights and scents of their new world. "So, we were hoping you'd let us keep them here. If it's not too much trouble."

All the rangers looked pleadingly at Zordon who frowned back at them. "This is a very unusual request." He frowned as he watched one of the kittens slide off the consoles onto the floor. "But I do not see a problem with it. I'm sure we'll all enjoy having some more life around here."

The rangers cheered. Tanya and Kat hugged glad their quest was finally complete, but Tanya suddenly broke away. "Wait! We haven't named them yet."

"Right they need names!"

Rocky caught the black and white kitten as it skidded past him. "How about Zedd?"

"You're kidding!" Jason laughed at the Blue Zeo Ranger.

"Just think how Lord Zedd would feel if he found out," replied Rocky with a wicked grin. He stroked the kitten as it purred. "Cute, little Zedd."

Kim giggled. "Oh, my god. That's hilarious."

"One more," declared Tanya glancing at the white cat.

"Dulcea."

The rangers looked up at Zordon in surprise. "That's a beautiful name," pronounced Kat.

The antics of rangers and kittens were interrupted by a mew that surprisingly came from the direction of Tommy. A little head peeked out from where it had been hidden in Tommy's large arms.

"Oh, I forgot," Kat rushed over to Tommy and plucked the calico kitten from his arms. "We brought Karone to keep Andros company." She went over to the unconscious ranger and placed the kitten on his stomach. Karone lightly padded her way over to Andros' face. Sniffing she touched her nose to his, before turning around and curling up on his chest.

Suddenly, Andros sighed and his head rolled a little to the side. Billy rushed over and let out a smile as he gazed over the medical scanner. "His fever's broken and his brain wave pattern is almost back to normal."

"Cat magic," Tanya exclaimed.

Katherine agreed. "And to think no one wanted them."


	6. Moving On

**Moving On**

**Different Directions 6**

**By Daylight**

Head bent, he chose to stare at the grass at his feet rather than the beautiful surroundings. Thoughts moved sluggishly through his brain as he tried figure out what to do next, but he might as well have been looking for the answer to the meaning of life. Letting out a long breath of air, he ran a hand through his long hair and for once, lifted his head up. He was greeted by the intimidating sight of a petit brunette glaring at him, her arms crossed across her chest.

"You know Tommy does the exact same thing. And I don't think it's healthy for either of you."

"What?" asked Andros, frowning as Kim sat down next to him.

"Sit in the park and brood."

"I was just…"

"Yes?"

Andros shrugged.

Kim knowingly nodded her head. "Right." She glanced at him assessing his still too pale complexion. "Are you sure you're well enough to be out and about already?"

"I'm fine."

"Sure?"

Andros gave her an exasperated look.

Kim put up her hands. "Alright! All right! Anyway, I'm sure the others wouldn't have let you out of the Power Chamber if Billy hadn't given you a clean bill of health."

Letting out a snort, Andros shook his head, then he glanced back a Kim giving her quick once over.

"Are _you_ alright?"

She raised her eyebrows.

"You just seem a bit down."

Sighing, Kimberly hung her head letting her hair fall forward over her face. "Listen, I don't know how much you know about what happened between Tommy and me…"

"Just the basics."

Kim nodded. "When I left, I thought it was my dream come true. I mean, there I was going to Florida to be trained by one of the best coaches there is." She pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. "I guess in all the excitement I forgot that I would be leaving so much behind."

Hesitating for a moment, the former pink ranger took a deep before she continued her story. "Now usually I don't have a problem making new friends, but it was training non stop from the minute I got there. No time for anything else. Nothing but gymnastics. Coach pushes us hard. He has to. We're the US's hope for the Pan Globals. The other girls on the team, they're more interested in competing than being friends. I was so lost and lonely. Sometimes, I'd even wish that I could just…" She stopped, biting her lip.

"I understand."

Looking up, Kim saw the sympathy in his eyes. She gave a grateful smile. "Well, then I met a guy from the men's team who was interested in me. I didn't think much of him, but I was desperate. Maybe I even thought I could grow to love him. So, I sent the letter. I thought Tommy would be better off anyway not being attached to a long-distance girlfriend."

She sighed. "It was a mistake, though it took me two months of dating the jerk to realize it. But then it was too late. I had lost Tommy and I didn't dare read any of the letters my friends sent me because I was so afraid that they hated me too. I thought I had managed to lose all my friends in one go. I still clung to some hope though. And that's the reason I finally decided to come back."

"And you found you still have friends."

Kim nodded. "Yeah, but not Tommy. I don't have him anymore."

"But he's still your friend, right?"

"Right. And maybe his friendship can get me through the next month of training back in Florida." Sniffing, she wiped the few stray tears from her eyes. "Lord. I'm sorry. This must seem so stupid to you."

Andros furrowed his brow questioningly.

"I mean after all you've been through, my problems must seem like nothing."

"It's not stupid." Andros shook his head. "No one should feel alone."

"Well now that I've poured my heart out to you, I hope you don't mind if I ask you something."

"Sure. Go ahead," Andros replied with a slight wariness.

"Who's Karone?"

Andros closed his eyes, a mask of pain covering his face.

"I'm sorry," apologized Kimberly as she saw him shutting himself away again. "You don't have to answer. I heard you call out for her when you were sick and I was curious."

He remained quiet for a moment then slowly lifted his hands to his neck. He took off his locket, opened it and handed it to Kim. She stared at the pictures of the two children that had been lovingly placed inside. Pointing to the boy in red, she stated, "That's you."

Andros nodded. "The girl is Karone. My sister."

Kim handed him back the locket and he carefully placed back around his neck.

"She was kidnapped when she was only eight years old. We were just playing in the park and a monster came up and grabbed her. I only had my back turned for a moment… Ever since then, I've searched for her, but I have yet to find a single clue to her location."

"I'm sure you'll find her," consoled Kim putting a comforting hand on his arm.

"I've barely even had the time to look recently what with the war."

They sat for a moment in silence.

"Billy thinks the repairs on the Megaship will be finished in about a week."

Andros nodded.

"What are you going to do then?"

"I don't know."

**ooooo**

The Angel Grove Airport was packed. Spring break was over and family and friends were returning home with one last goodbye to their loved ones. The crowd was large and loud, but that didn't matter to the group of teenagers as they gave their departing friend some last minute hugs.

"Take care," ordered Jason as he released Kim from a bone-crushing hug. "And don't work too hard."

"I promise." Kimberly gazed over her friends. They were all there including Andros. "I'll miss you guys."

"We'll miss you too, Kim," said Tommy giving her a squeeze as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "Come back and visit us again soon."

"Actually," announced Kim as he let her go. "I have a favor to ask all of you."

"Anything," Adam promised.

"Well, you know the Pan Globals are going to be held in San Francisco in a month, and I'd like you all to come."

Tanya's eyes grew wide. "Seriously?"

"Definitely. I'll have tickets for everyone."

"That's wonderful," proclaimed Kat. "Thank you."

"It's not a problem. I want you to be there."

"To see you get the gold, right?" Rocky suggested with a large grin.

"I'll do my best."

Billy smiled at her. "We know you will."

"Well?"

Tommy laughed. "Of course, we're coming."

"All of you?" She glanced at Andros who nodded his head giving her a small smile.

"We'll do our best to be there. You can count on it," assured Jason.

"Baring no monster attacks," joked Tanya.

Adam put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't give the Machine Empire any ideas. Now, you'd better hurry or your plane will leave without you."

With a flurry of goodbyes, Kimberly grabbed her luggage and dashed off giving her friends, old and new, one last longing look before disappearing.

**ooooo**

The Astromegaship, the pride of KO-35, was starting to get back to normal. It was tidy, if not yet completely functional. But the silence unbroken by the regular hum of the engine, the lights still dimmed to preserve power, and the darkness of the remaining malfunctioning consoles still gave the megaship the air of a ghost ship, a home for only the sleeping dead.

"You're still welcome to stay at my place if you'd like," Tommy insisted.

"Thanks, but the Megaship is the only thing I have left and I'd prefer to stay here."

Tommy eyed the Red Astro Ranger. Andros stood tiredly, clad in clothes the rangers had helped buy so he could fit in on Earth. The corner of the Kerovian's mouth turned up slightly and Tommy smiled back, but his shoulders slumped as he saw the darkness that remained in the young man's eyes. Despite all they had done, there were still shadows in Andros' heart that the Earth rangers had been unable to reach or heal.

"Well, you know how to contact us if you need anything. And don't stay away too long or we'll be forced to kidnap you and take you to the Youth Centre to make sure you get some good food and company."

Andros smiled, but it still did not reach his eyes.

Tommy sighed as the energy of the transport whisked him away leaving Andros alone on his ship of shadowed memories.

The silence fell heavily. Andros let the bag containing the few belongings he had collected from Earth slump to the ground, then leaned forward against the weapons console in the middle of the room, his head bowed and his eyes closed. Feeling the desolate stillness of the room weighing on him, Andros realized this was the first time he had been alone on the ship since he had crashed on Earth and with that came another revelation.

He quickly left the bridge charging through the dim corridors disregarding the gapping emptiness of the rooms on either side of him. Circumventing the lift, he jumped through an access hatch and slid down the ladder to the levels below. Finally, he reached the engine room and headed for the distant corner. He hesitated laying his palm against the access panel that would allow him entrance to what he most dreaded seeing and yet needed to see.

With shaky fingers, he keyed in the familiar sequence and the door swung open. A mist of cold air flowed outward as he stepped through. The rhythmic beep that greeted him was both reassuring and heart wrenching. A quick glance at the monitors told him that nothing had changed. All was stable and quiet. Andros found his feet taking him to the centre of the room, to the glass coffin whose occupant was obscured by a haze of condensation. Lifting his hand, he paused again unsure if he wanted to look upon his friend in such a state. But he still had the need to see with his own eyes what the sensors told him.

Inside the cryogenic tube, the silver ranger lay, his visage hidden by the visor of his helmet. Andros turned away making it to a corner of the room where he slumped against the wall, sliding down until he sat resting his arms and head on his knees.

"I know I've said it before, but I'm sorry, Zhane. I'm so sorry."

Tears leaked from under his eyelids as he pressed his eyes tightly closed trying to force the image of his friend out of his mind. But the images insisted on being played, all the joyous memories replaced with scenes of blood and darkness.

"If I had just…" He ran his fingers through his hair digging his nails deep into his scalp. Letting go, he sighed. "But it's a little late for that now. I've lost everything: first my sister, then my team, my best friend and finally, my planet. Who knows if my parents are even alive."

Andros' shoulders lifted and fell as he took a deep breath. "If only you'd wake up." A twisted smile appeared on his face, his dead laugh echoing in the cold room. "Even though you'd kick my ass right now considering everything I've been doing. I almost…." He leaned his head back against the wall closing his eyes. "But I couldn't do it. I blamed the wind but that wasn't what stopped me. Even rescuing the kittens was a welcomed excuse."

A frown crossed the Kerovian's features. "I couldn't figure it out at first. Didn't know why I would want to continue on with all this pain. Then I realized " The Red Astro Ranger turned to his friend's cold casket. "It was you." He shook his head. "Somehow after everything that's happened to me. I'm still holding on to the hope that you'll wake up. And one day, together, we'll bring our people home." He let out a snort. "It may be stupid, a naive belief. But I refuse to let you, or our people, down again by giving up."

"The question is what am I going to do now." Standing up, he started pacing. "The Megaship will be functional soon. Do I leave? Search for our people, for our enemies. I owe these Earth rangers so much for their help, their kindness. But I owe our people more."

He stopped leaning against the wall his gaze distant. His thoughts turned to the strange new friends in whose lives he had become unintentionally intertwined. "Maybe I will stay. Help the Zeo Rangers in their battle, but only for now." Pushing off the wall, he walked back to the middle of the room. "Because there is one more reason I couldn't step off that cliff."

Jaw tight, Andros rested his clenched fists on Zhane's cryochamber.

"I intend to make Dark Specter pay for what he's done."

The End

_Author's Note: Yes, this is finally the end. Or at least sort of. I always planned on Different Directions being many chapters longer, but have had so many problems updating it over the years and this looked like a good place to stop. This, however, means that a sequel is a distinct possibility. I have the ideas for at least six more chapters worked out so we'll see. It will of course have to go on the back burner for awhile though, because I have this other fic I'm working on that is slowly but surely getting completely out of control. Hopefully you'll be able to read it soon. Thanks for reading and thanks for all the wonderful reviews and emails, Daylight._


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